


Little Darlin'

by sweepee



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017), Riverdale (TV 2017) RPF
Genre: 1950s, Alternate Universe - 1950s, Archie Andrews Being an Asshole, Eventual Smut, F/M, OC is an innocent northsider, Romance, Sweet Pea is a greaser, i've watched grease too many times
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2019-04-17
Packaged: 2019-09-18 11:35:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 40,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16994253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweepee/pseuds/sweepee
Summary: He had hair as black as night slicked back, save for a dark curl that fell just above his eye. He was devilishly handsome with perfect, full lips and haunting dark eyes. I spotted a tattoo of a two headed serpent on his neck.He was every parent’s nightmare.1950′s AU multi-chapter fic (Sweet Pea x OC)





	1. Little Darlin'

****Chapter One: “Little Darlin’”**  
**

_Riverdale, Summer of 1957_

“I don’t know who that Archie Andrews thinks he is messing around with that no good trollop Veronica Lodge. I’m SO over him!”

Lily’s best friend Trish had called her on the telephone just a few hours earlier after getting in a fight with her boyfriend Archie for what seemed to be the millionth time since the summer started. Lily had figured they were fighting when her mother told her that Trish was on the phone. It seemed as though the only times she would reach out to her over break was when her and Archie were on the outs. It was the same story time and time again, Trish would hear it through the grapevine that Archie was messing around with another girl, the two of them would get into a fight, and she would call up Lily to convince her to go out and get her mind off of things. Usually the girls would head to Pop’s and order a couple of milkshakes and maybe head to the Bijou to see a film.

The two sat in a booth nearest the door, sipping on their shakes. Lily’s vanilla and Trish’s strawberry topped with whipped cream and a cherry on top.

“Enough about Archie, at least I know I’ll always have you Lil’. Besides, it’s been an awful long time since we hung out just us girls. This is exactly what the doctor ordered.” She decided. “Lord knows I could use some fun!” Lily smiled politely smiled back at her friend. Trish really didn’t have many girl friends, most girls had caught wind of her less than…ideal reputation. Lily didn’t care too much, she just worried about her sometimes. Archie had a bit of a temper and a tendency of being quite possessive.

The bells jingled on the door to the diner.

“Speaking of fun…” she started with a mischievous grin. Lily followed the redhead’s gaze, which was fixated on a group of young men wearing black leather jackets filing into the diner. Lily instantly recognized the jackets. They were worn by the Southside Serpents, a notorious gang that just about ruled the streets of the Southside. Trish let her gaze linger and batted her big green eyes at one of the members, he had perfectly tanned skin, a muscular build, and dark cropped hair. The serpent caught Trish’s gaze, and slowly ran his eyes up and down her long, creamy white legs which were shaded by the table of the table. Trish was absolutely stunning, with her auburn hair and model like physique. It was no wonder guys went crazy over her. Lily could only dream of being half as gorgeous as she was.

She held eye contact with the boy as she took a sip from the candy cane striped straw in her shake and gave him a flirtatious wave. The leather clad boy took that as an invitation and sauntered over to her, standing next to Trish and leaning against the divider between the booths.

“Hey Trish, you’re looking alright.” The serpent said with a wink. Lily looked at her friend with a furrowed brow, not sure exactly how the two knew each other but not sure she really  _wanted_  to know.

“Not looking bad yourself, Fogarty.” She batted her eyes up at him, looking through her lashes.

“Fangs, this is my best friend in the whole entire world, Lilian Green. Lily for short. Lily, this is Fangs.”

“Nice to meet you, Lily.” The shy blonde smiled politely at the stranger, giving a small wave and fiddled with the straw in her shake. Fangs shifted his body, looking down at Trish and watching intently as she wrapped her lips around her straw, sipping up more of her strawberry shake.

“Hey Fogarty! You coming over here or did we ask for this kids menu for nothin’?!” One of his buddies shouted from across the diner. The rest of the group joined in laughing.

“Hey mind your business, would ya!?” Fangs yelled back. “Hey, uh, if you ladies are interested we’re gonna head over to the Bijou to catch a movie.”

Lily stammered. She didn’t know this man, AND he was a Serpent. Her parents had thoroughly warned her about those people and the kind of trouble they were capable of.

“Uh…well…w-we should probably-“

“That sounds like fun! We were actually planning on heading over there anyway, isn’t that right Lil’?” Lily widened her eyes at her friend, but Trish paid no mind.

“I promise we won’t bite.” He flashed a toothy grin and straightened up and started walking back toward his group of friends. Trish smiled after Fangs, seemingly in a trance until Lily grabbed her hand.

“Trish!” She turned toward her friend with a questioning look. “Do you think this is such a good idea? I don’t even know these guys! Lily’s voice just higher than a whisper so the group of serpents wouldn’t hear. “I don’t dare ask you how you and Fangs got acquainted.”

Trish rolled her eyes at her friend’s insinuation. “Okay, Fangs and I met earlier this summer by Sweetwater River. I went to go for a therapeutic swim to get my mind off of Archie, and Fangs was there with a couple of his friends. They were having a couple drinks around a bonfire. One thing led to another and…” Trish trailed off. Lily’s eyes widened at her friend.

“Trish…you didn’t”

“What? I’m a confident, empowered woman Lily. Besides, me and Archie were on the outs so it was fine. Actually it was more than fine.” She let out a soft giggle, glancing toward the group that sat behind Lily’s back.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this before?”

“Well, I figured you probably wouldn’t approve of your bestie running off into the arms of a Southside Serpent. You’re always so worried about me. Am I right?”

“I mean…I do worry about you. What if Archie found ou-“

“He won’t find out. He can never know.” Trish declared, Lily felt as though she was being warned. Not that she would say anything to Archie, she wasn’t exactly his biggest fan. Lily sat in silence, finishing her shake. Soon the group of serpents rose from their booth and headed toward the exit. Fangs stopped by their table,

“So i’ll see you ladies there then?”

Trish looked up to him with a bright smile. “Absolutely.”

**

The drive in was bustling with teens as Trish pulled into the lot in her baby pink Chevy. She spotted the group of serpents and parked her car behind them in the next row back. The two girls stopped by the concession stand first to grab a bucket of popcorn and two cherry cokes before heading over to the group of leather-clad studs.

“Oh come on, Lily. I’m just having a little bit of fun is all! Nothing bad will happen. Let’s just go over there, watch the movie with Fangs and then we can head back home okay? It’ll be fine. Besides, did you happen to notice how  _hot_  those guys are? Even a goody two shoes like you can’t deny there’s something intriguing about a bad boy.”

Fangs shouted over to the two girls. “You ladies comin’? Movie’s about to start!”

“Be right over!” She flashed him a bright smile and grabbed Lily’s hand. “Come on. Let’s not be rude.”

Trish dragged her over to the group of Serpents who stood in a circle, most of them puffing on cigarettes. They all appeared to be around their age, some perhaps a few years older. Fangs was talking with two other leather clad serpents. The shorter of the two wore an unusual gray knitted hat on his head that looked like a crown. He was a good looking young man, Lily thought. The taller of the two was leaning against the side of a motorcycle as he smoked a cigarette. He had hair as black as night neatly slicked back, save for a dark curl that fell just above his eye. He was devilishly handsome, with perfectly full lips and haunting dark eyes. Lily spotted a tattoo of a two headed serpent on his neck. He was every parent’s nightmare.

Fangs turned to the girls, gesturing towards them. “Guys, I’d like to introduce you to some friends of mine. Some of you might remember my friend Trish,”

“ _Oh I remember her! You’ve only been talking about her for the last month!_ ” One of the younger serpents shouted out. The rest of the group busted out laughing. Fangs shot him a look before he continued. “And this is her friend Lily. Ladies, these are my buddies Jughead,” the boy with the gray hat smiled politely at us.

“Nice to meet you.”

“and this is Sweet Pea” The taller boy with the neck tattoo looked up at Trish with a curt smile before his eyes shifted over to me. His eyes slid down to my feet and slowly worked their way back up slowly, a slight smirk playing on his lips. Fangs introduced the rest of the gang to the girls. The tall Serpent’s eyes stayed locked her. They had only been introduced seconds earlier and there he was, openly staring at her. Lily felt self conscious under his gaze.

“What the hell are a couple of Northside princess’s doing hanging out with a bunch of Serpents? Didn’t know you were even allowed out this late.” Sweet Pea said with a sarcastic smirk as he inhaled from his cigarette.

Lily quickly averted her gaze to the ground, to the cars, anything but him. However she could still feel his eyes burning into her.

“Only on the weekends if we behave.”

Sweet pea scoffed at Trish’s response, taking another drag from his smoke.

The lights that lit the drive-in were lowered, signaling the start of the movie. Lily found a spot on the hood of one of the serpent’s cars and sipped on her cherry coke while Fangs and Trish sat on what she assumed to be Fang’s car. He had soon wrapped his arm around her and the two of them whispered back and forth during the opening titles. Lily couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh. She knew Archie would be livid if he found out about this. Lily began fiddling with the dainty gold cross that hung from her neck. In her peripheral vision I could see Sweet Pea, who was sitting next to Jughead on the bed of the truck next to where she sat. She didn’t know if she was being paranoid, but she could’ve sworn she had caught him looking at her every so often. For reasons she couldn’t explain, this make her heart race. About halfway through the film, she whispered over to her friend.

“Hey Trish, I’m gonna head over to get some more popcorn, do you want anything?” But her friend was far too engrossed in the Serpent next to her, whose face was now only inches away from hers. “I need to get out of here” the blonde thought to herself. She decided she’d just grab her another coke.

***

“Hello, may I please have a cherry coke and a refill on the popcorn please?” She handed the empty bucket to the cashier.

Lily rummaged through her small mint green purse for some cash and handed it over to the boy at the counter. She turned to wait for her order and bumped into what felt like a brick wall.

“What’s the matter, princess? Bored with watching your friend play backseat-bingo?”

She lifted her head to come face to face with the tall Serpent, Sweet Pea. He leaned against a light pole with another cigarette hanging out of his mouth which was upturned into a smirk on one side. His hair shined in the light from the movie screen.

Lily blushed, embarrassed that she had bumped into him. There was no denying he was a good looking guy. He wasn’t handsome in the traditional sense, he looked rugged and dangerous. H was undoubtedly one of the more attractive men she had encountered, which apparently made her act like a fool.

“Hmm? Oh..uh, no-I uh…I just needed a refill of popcorn is all.”

“Seems to me you were trying to get away from something.”

She thought of saying,  _“Yeah, you. You’ve been staring at me the past 45 minutes.”_ but decided against it. “I guess I’m just worried about Trish, that she’ll do something stupid. She’s got a boyfriend, you know? He’d have a fit if he found out.”

“Is that right?” He pulled an amused smirk.

“Yeah, he’s very protective. So I hope you’re not interested.”

“Me? You’re talkin’ to the wrong guy. I’d tell you to warn Fangs, but from the looks and  _sounds_  of it,” he added. “think it might be too late, blondie. Besides, can’t say she’s my type.”

Lily scoffed at him.

“Oh please, Trish is everyone’s type, she looks like one of those girls in the magazines. She could get any guy she wanted to ask her on a date.”

Sweet Pea threw up his hands in surrender. “Don’t get me wrong, she’s a beautiful girl. Just not my type.”

“And what exactly is your type?” I asked out of curiosity while fiddling with the dainty cross that hung from my neck.

He didn’t break eye contact as he lifted the cigarette to his mouth, drew in the smoke, and exhaled. “Hmm…nice legs, sweet smile. Recently I’ve developed a soft spot for blondes.” He said with a wink.

Was he…flirting? With her? Lily subconsciously reached up to finger the curled ends of her golden hair. A warm blush crept up her cheeks. She quickly averted her eyes to the ground and stood speechless.

“Hey Lily?” Her green eyes snapped up to Sweet Pea with a questioning look.

“Hmm?”

“You know your popcorns been ready for like an hour right?” The serpent teased her, knowing exactly the kind of effect he had on her.

“I-uh yeah.” The girl laughed nervously, grabbing her popcorn and bottle of coke. He made her feel flustered, and she didn’t like it one bit.

***

When they got back to the Serpent’s spot, Fangs and Trish were nowhere to be seen. Initially Lily was worried, that was until she heard Trish giggling from inside of the car. Although to be completely honest, she was  _still_  worried. Lily wasn’t entirely sure what they were doing inside of that car but one thing she was sure of was that Archie would kill Fangs if he had any idea. Sweet Pea and Lily watched the remainder of the film sitting side by side on the bed of Jughead’s truck in silence. Again, she could feel his eyes flickering over toward her every once in awhile. Lily felt like asking if his parents had taught him any manners as a child, but she figured she already knew the answer. The movie came to an end, and Lily left off the bed of the truck. She walked over and nervously knocked on the passenger window of Fangs’ car.

“Hey Trish, we should probably head out, the movie ended and my parents will flip if I come home past curfew.”

She climbed out of the car with Fangs, coyly wiping the corners of her mouth and smoothed out her skirt and said her goodbye to Fangs. “I’ll call you.” Lily rolled her eyes, she couldn’t understand why her friend would do this.

The two girls walked across the lot to Trish’s car and went to get inside. Lily was about to close the door when Sweet Pea yelled out to her.

“Hey Northie!”

She whipped her head over to Sweet Pea.

“I’ll see you around.”

 _“Yeah, right.”_ She thought. The blonde girl politely smiled back at the handsome Serpent and gave a small wave.

She didn’t want to admit it, but she prayed he was right.


	2. Seventeen

**Chapter Two: Seventeen**

It had been about a month since that night at the drive-in, and summer was coming to a close. Trish had spent the remainder of her summer sneaking out to the Southside in the middle of the night. Of course, Lily would cover for her. She would tell her folks she would be staying over their house for the night. Little did they know, their little princess would climb out Lily’s window and sneak off into the arms of a Southside Serpent.

“Trish, I really don’t understand why you don’t just call it quits with Archie.”

Trish scoffed, rolling her eyes. “It’s not that simple, Lily. Archie and I-“ she stopped, “Well, we-“

Lily sat silently waiting for her friend to give an explanation, her vibrant green eyes looking up at her. After that night at the drive-in Archie had shown up to Trish’s house, flowers in hand, apologizing for what he had done and begging for forgiveness. Lily thought it was rather pathetic. Trish of course accepted the football player’s apology, welcoming him back once again. Lily had hoped her friend would finally kick him to the curb, but for some reason she just wouldn’t let him go.

“Ugh! I don’t know why I bother explaining it to you. You wouldn’t understand anyway.”

Lily looked down at her feet. Trish wasn’t entirely wrong, Lily still hadn’t even had her first boyfriend yet. The closest thing she had ever had to a real date (other than the blind ones Trish and Archie would force her to go on) was with her mother’s church friends, the Keller’s son Kevin. They had gone to the homecoming dance together during their freshman year at Riverdale High. Though her mother would never admit to it, Lily had suspicions that she was behind the whole thing. Kevin was a complete gentleman, he opened the doors for her and even brought her a corsage. But he seemed far from interested in her. Lily couldn’t help but notice the way he could hardly pull his gaze from Moose Mason as they slow danced. Rumor has it, Kevin would sometimes go out walking through Sweetwater Forest late at night. Lily didn’t know what exactly went on out there, but she had her suspicions.

Lily looked up sheepishly at Trish, “You’re right, sorry. I’m sure it’s complicated, as you said. But I just don’t want you to get into trouble. Archie would flip a lid if you got caught.”

“I can handle Archie Andrews, Lily. He doesn’t scare me.” Trish sighed and gave a seemingly confident smile, but Lily could see right past it. She had seen the marks and bruises on her friends skin before, and she knew where they came from. She had tried to talk to her about it on multiple occasions. But every time without fail, Trish would tell her not to worry and that _s_ he could _“handle it.”_

_Thud._

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of a small rock hitting against the second story window of Lily’s bedroom. Trish’s eyes lit up with excitement, any worry on her face immediately disappearing.

“That’s him! I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”

Lily sat on her bed, nodding her head. As if it wasn’t hard enough to find time for just the two of them to hang out this summer, Trish’s secret outings with Fangs had become more and more frequent. She was happy for her friend, whenever she was going to see Fangs she seemed genuinely happy. Lily hadn’t seen her like that in a long time.

“Are you sure you don’t want to tag along? It could be fun! I hate to leave you all alone.”

“That’s okay Trish I think I’ll stay home. I should head to bed soon anyways, I have church in the morning.”

“Suit yourself, just make sure to leave the window unlocked. I’ll be back soon!”

Trish ran over to the bedroom window, sliding it open, and climbing down the white wooden trellis attached to the exterior wall of Lily’s house. Lily shut the window behind her and watched as Fangs pulled her friend in for a passionate kiss, his arms tightly wrapped around her body until Trish playfully pushed him away. The two left laughing as they held hands and ran down the street where he had parked his car.

Lily sighed, pulling her white lace curtains together and walking over to her bed that sat on the wall opposite the window. She melted into the soft pink floral comforter. Pulling out the drawer of her white wooden bedside table, Lily rummaged around until her fingers felt the smooth cool beads of the rosary she had been gifted from her father. She closed her eyes breathing out slowly and began praying to God for her troubled friend return home safe.

***

It was late August when Trish dragged Lily to Riverdale’s annual carnival. It was one of the few exciting things that happened in the small town, and therefore an event that everyone looked forward to.

Trish had dragged her friend along on yet another double date, which meant Lily would be subjected to a Trish-approved makeover beforehand. Lily thought Trish had excellent taste, she had a wardrobe most girls would only dream of. But her clothes were a bit tighter and a little more revealing than Lily was used to. She was sure if her mother were to see her in the outfit she was wearing that night, she would have a heart attack. She wore a bright red button down sleeveless top that was knotted at the waist, and a pair of white sailor shorts. Her blonde curls were worn in a low ponytail with a red headband to keep her hair out of her face.

Trish and Archie set her up with one of Archie’s buddy’s from the football team. His name was Chuck Clayton. He was strikingly handsome and very friendly. Some might even say he was a little  _too_ friendly _._

“You know Lily, I’m glad our friends set us up. Don’t know how I could’ve missed a doll like you.” Chuck shot her a quick wink and threw his arm around her shoulders a little too tightly. Lily gave him a curt smile back at him, physically uncomfortable.

“Guys! We MUST go on the ferris wheel!”

“Great idea Trish! Whadd’ya say Lily? Ferris wheel?”

If she were to be honest, being stuck in a secluded, rotating carriage with Chuck Clayton was the last place Lily wanted to be. Not to mention the fact that she was petrified of heights. But she didn’t want to disappoint Trish or cause a scene, she figured it was easier to go along with it.

“Err, yeah.” Lily forced a smile. “Sounds fun!”

Chuck handed over their tickets to the man conducting the ride. Lily watched Trish and Archie wave down to the two of them as they lifted up in the air giggling. The next carriage touched down.

Chuck led Lily over to the carriage and offered his hand to the small blonde, “Our chariot awaits, m’lady.” Lily took a deep breath before accepting his hand, hoping he wouldn’t notice the thin layer of sweat that coated her palms.

Their carriage lifted up from the platform and the two were stopped at the top of the ferris wheel as the remaining carriages were filled, the ride creaking as it rotated. Lily tried to focus on the floor of the carriage, taking deep breaths. As the carriage lowered, she peered over the side and her eyes were met with an empty lot.

The drive-in.

Though it had been over a month since that night, Lily just couldn’t seem to get that raven-haired serpent off of her mind. She was afraid that devilish smirk would exist only in her memory. Her stomach suddenly flipped, likely for more reasons than one. Her thoughts were quickly interrupted by Chuck not-so-smoothly wrapping his arm around her shoulders as he had before. Lily’s body stiffened at the contact.

“Wow, sure is beautiful up here.”

She glanced at him before her green eyes refocused on the metal floor of the carriage. “Sure is.”

“But I have to say you look far more beautiful. I have to say, Archie and Trish are fun to be around. But I’m glad we finally got the chance to be alone.”

Chuck leaned in closer to Lily, but when the ride jolted to a start, he was sent back in the seat. Lily looked up and mouthed a quick “thank you” to thank the heavens above.

“SO, uh,  _Chuck._  You ready for football season?” She knew that the mere mention of football would keep him blabbering on and therefore distract him from his initial intentions.

As she had hoped, Chuck went on a tangent about the upcoming football season for the remainder of the ride. Every once in awhile he would shift his body slightly to get closer to his date, all the while making Lily increasingly nervous. She began to fiddle with her golden necklace, as she always did when she was feeling anxious. At this point, she had broken out in a full blown sweat, and her stomach began to weaken. Lily had such a strong desire to get off of what she considered a rotating death trap.

The ride soon slowed to a halt as they let off the first passengers. Lily felt her stomach begin to contract. Her normally peachy skin was now a pale grey as she felt the color drain from her face.

She closed her eyes and said a silent prayer. “ _Please, god please just let me make it to a trash can. Please.”_

Lily saw Trish and Archie get out of their carriage, hand in hand.  Her and Chuck’s carriage all too slowly lowered down until it finally touched the loading platform.

“Wow, the ride is already ov-UNH“ Lily shoved Chuck out of the way and sprung out of the carriage. She ran right past Trish and Archie, she was on a mission to find the nearest garbage can.

Lily’s head began to spin as she ran past the game booths, practically toppling over a group of elementary kids. She turned off of the main path, spotting a trash can near the fence that separated the parking lot. The moment she reached the bin, she clutched the sides of it as her body lurched forward into the opening emptying the contents of her stomach.

When there was nothing left to come up, Lily walked over to the fence and rested her back against the cool metal. She sunk down to the ground, her head resting back on the fence. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. It was a nice night at least, Lily thought to herself. The air was warm and breezy, just how she liked it. It was a pretty quiet night, save for the hustle and bustle of the carnival. She knew she should go find Trish and the boys, but at that point she was in desperate need of a moment to recollect herself. She was less than anxious to get back to her date. Every once in awhile Trish would try to set her up with one of Archie’s jock friends that Lily would inevitably end up listening to go on and on about sports. All the while trying to politely brush away their undesired physical contact the entire night. She knew Trish was only trying to be helpful, but all of the guys she tried to set her up with were exact clones of Archie. And for obvious reasons, Lily wasn’t exactly fond of Archie. Lily took in another deep breath, soaking in just another moment of peace before she had to reunite with her friend who was likely out looking for her.

“What’s the matter, kitten? Too many rides on the tilt-a-whirl?”

Lily’s green eyes snapped open at the unexpected, deep,  _familiar_ voice interrupting her moment of solitude. She turned her head to the left, her eyes level with a pair of dark denim jeans. Her eyes followed up a pair of long, muscular legs that lead to a black leather jacket, snugly fit over a broad chest. Her emerald eyes were met with chocolate brown ones, an amused smirk, and a cloud of smoke whirling out from the cigarette hanging from his mouth.

Sweet Pea.

**

Lily couldn’t help but wonder if there were amore unfortunate moment for him to have bumped into her within the last month…Nope. Couldn’t think of a worse scenario.

“Sweet Pea…What are you doing here?”

He pulled the cigarette from his mouth, exhaling and surrounding himself with a cloud of smoke. “What? Just because I’m in a gang doesn’t mean I’m too tough to pass up an opportunity for some cotton candy.”

“Oh, n-no. I just meant, what are you doing  _over here_? Everything is over that way.” Lily pointed her thumb toward the flashing lights and crowds of families and teenagers alike.

“Well, I was waiting for Fangs by the entrance when you caught my eye. Ya know, I can honestly say I’ve never seen anyone haul ass from a ferris wheel as fast as you did. Thought maybe your heels were on fire.” The serpent laughed wickedly.

Lily was mortified. He saw the whole thing. She looked away from the serpent, a deep blush rushing up to her cheeks. Sweet Pea couldn’t deny the fact that he found great humor in her embarrassment, truthfully he found it kind of cute. He looked at the small blonde with the same amused look as before, drawing in smoke from his cigarette.

“Should’ve seen the look on your boyfriend’s face.” He exhaled, and started to laugh. “He was-“

“ _Oh._ He’s  _not_ my boyfriend.” Lily clarified. “Just a guy Trish and Archie set me up with.

“Archie? The redhead?”

“Archie is Trish’s boyfriend. You know of him?”

“Oh, right. Right. You could say we’re old friends.” Sweet Pea nodded his head. “Well I’m sure he must be quite the guy considering he was recommended by the one and only Archie Andrews.” He snorted.

Lily rolled her eyes at him, letting out a deep sigh. “Frankly, I don’t see it working out.”

Sweet Pea nodded to himself. “Hmm, well that’s a good thing.” He took a long drag from his cigarette, and surveyed his surroundings.

Lily scoffed at him, unsure of what he meant by that comment. “I beg your pardon?”

Sweet Pea just let out a chuckle. She made a move to get up off the grass, Sweet Pea offered her his hand and pulled her up. She straightened out and brushed off the clothes she borrowed from Trish, hoping she hadn’t stained the white shorts from sitting in the grass. Sweet Pea’s eyes ran over her body. He noted the way her blonde curls cascaded just past her shoulders. The red off-the-shoulder top she wore hugged her soft subtle curves perfectly. She was wearing the same dainty gold cross she had worn the night at the drive in. She was short, no taller than 5’2 but she was all legs. The small white sailor shorts she wore left just enough to Sweet Pea’s imagination. The Serpent’s dark eyes flickered back to hers. “Nice outfit.” He gave that devilish smirk that had been burned into Lily’s memory ever since they met.

She subconsciously tugged on the sailor shorts Trish had insisted she just  _had_  to wear.

“SP, man. I’ve been looking all over for you!”

Lily looked past Sweet Pea to see Fangs Fogarty, the boy that had spent the last month or so standing outside of her bedroom window late at night waiting for her friend to run off to the Southside with him to do lord know’s what.

“Wow, Lily. Almost didn’t recognize you. You look good.”

Lily didn’t know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult. Fangs smiled at the blonde, looking her over. His eyes searched around the field before his eyes landed back on Lily’s. “Trish here?”

“Uh, she’s-“

“Lily!” Her timing was impeccable.

Trish jogged over to stand by Lily’s side. Her and Fangs made eye contact.

She shot a flirtatious grin at her serpent lover, “Fangs,”

“Hey baby, you’re lookin good as always. You havin’ a fun night?”

“It just got a lot better, actually.” She tucked her bottom lip between her teeth. The two made goo-goo eyes at one another, it was as though they were both under a spell. All of that was soon interrupted by a fiery redhead storming over to the group. “You found her?!” His eyes narrowed at the sight of the two leather clad Serpents.

“What the hell are you greasers doing here?”

“We’ve got as much right to be here as you do.” Fangs spoke up to him, he had an intense look in his eyes.

Archie scoffed and looked to Trish and Lily, “Were these losers bothering you?”

Trish had a panicked look in her eye, not wanting to get Fangs hurt but also not wanting Archie to become suspicious. She locked eyes with Fangs.

Archie glanced between the two of them, his brow furrowing. “Trish, do you know this guy?”

“Arch don’t start.”

Archie stalked toward Fangs, “You been screwin’ around with my girl, snake?”

“Archie! Cut it out!”

“Trish stay out of this.”  He warned her.

“But Archie-“

“I SAID STAY OUT OF IT!” Trish jumped at the booming sound of his voice, her eyes shifted to the ground. Fangs stood there, his jaw clenched, fists closed tightly at his sides.

Sweet Pea tossed his cigarette to the ground and went to stand between Fangs and Archie.

“What? Are you fucking her too?”

Sweet Pea chuckled darkly. “You really want a round two, Andrews? If not, I suggest you take a hike before things get ugly.”

Archie glanced around, avoiding eye contact with the tall Serpent. Lily watched as his shoulders sagged a bit, he gave a defeated look. She wondered what that was all about. She had never heard of Archie backing down from a fight like that.

“I’ll go, but only because there’s ladies watching. Next time I see either of you Southside scumbags around my girl, you’re dead meat.” Sweet Pea stood there looking entirely unfazed by the bulldog’s words. However, Fangs showed a glint of fear in his features.

Archie turned to Trish with a stone-cold look on his face. Trish’s face was full of dread. Archie kept his eyes glued to Trish as he addressed Lily. “Lily, Trish and I are gonna head out. We’ve got some things we need to discuss in private.” Lily looked at Trish, her eyes filled with fear at the tone of his voice. “Chuck is still around her somewhere, I’m sure he can drive you home.”

Archie grabbed Trish’s arm tightly, making her gasp. “Let’s go.” Trish looked back at Fangs mouthing to him “sorry” before she was pulled into the crowd of carnival-goers.

Fangs stood there, his feet frozen to the ground. Sweet Pea roughly patted him on the shoulder. “Sorry, man.”

Fangs scoffed into the air. “I’m getting the fuck out of here. I’ll see you later SP.” He watched as the young serpent stalked off toward the parking lot.

Lily stood there in silence, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Great. Now I have to find a ride home.”

“I can give you a lift.” She looked back at Sweet Pea, who was lighting up another cigarette. She was surprised he was still standing there.

“As much as I appreciate the gesture, if my mother were to see me getting off the back of a motorcycle she would drop me off at a convent first thing in the morning.”

Sweet Pea let out a laugh, slowly blowing out smoke. “Well actually I drove my truck tonight, so you might be able to get away with a few Hail Mary’s.“

Lily looked around, folding her arms across her chest. “I don’t know, Sweet Pea.”

“Well it’s either that or you catch a ride with Chuck,” He rested the cigarette in between his lips and turned around motioning to the crowd of people. “I could have sworn I just saw him a second ago-Hey, Chuck!” he shouted, flailing his arms around like he was signaling an airplane to take-off.

“No no no no! Stop that!” Lily lunged at him, grabbing his arm. Which she couldn’t help but notice how firm and muscular his arm was under her soft hands, he was as strong as he looked. Possibly even stronger.

Sweet Pea roared with laughter while Lily folded her arms around herself.

“That wasn’t very nice of you.”

“Never said I was nice, darlin.” He took one last drag from his cigarette and tossed it to the side. “So, you need a lift or what?”

**

The leather of the seat felt cold against the back of Lily’s thighs. She had no idea how Trish could wear these shorts. She thought they looked nice, but they were hardly a step up from a pair of underwear in her opinion.

Sweet pea started up his truck, pulling out of the parking lot. The lights of the carnival began to blur as the unlikely pair disappeared down the dark road.

“So what’s the deal with that Archie guy anyways?”

“I’m sorry?”

“Guys a total asshole, why does Trish stay with him?”

Lily was taken aback at his brash vocabulary. But he wasn’t far from the truth. “Archie likes to have control over Trish. He’s got a bit of a temper.” Lily paused to think. “I’m not really sure why she stays with him. I suppose because he comes from a reputable family, their parents are good friends, he’s even the captain of the football team.”

“Well isn’t that special?” Sweet Pea’s voice dripped with sarcasm. Lily rolled her eyes.

“She says they love each other, but I don’t see how that could be true.” She paused. “I guess I just always thought that when you truly love someone the last thing you would want to do would be to hurt them.”

“Well, dollface. Sometimes it’s just not that simple.”

“I suppose you’re right, I just worry about her.”

“What about you?”

“Me?”

“How come you don’t have a boyfriend?”

She laughed softly to herself.

“Why do you laugh?”

“I don’t know, I guess I’m just not really the type of girl guys go for.”

“No? Chuck seemed pretty interested. You might even get a second date.” He joked. “Figured a good looking girl like you would have guys looped around the block waiting to ask you out.”

Lily felt a sudden wave of heat rush to her cheeks. She couldn’t think of anything to say without making a complete fool of herself, so she chose to flip the conversation back to him.

“How about you, Sweet Pea? Do you have a special lady in your life?”

“I’ve had plenty of girls in my life, although the word  _ladies_ doesn’t really suit them and none of them were anything special.” Lily thought his statements to be quite bold.

“Well, I can only imagine what they say about you.”

“Horrible things, baby. All of them true.” He said with a wink. Lily chuckled softly, shaking her head.

“So you mean to tell me you’ve never taken a girl out on a proper date before? You know, take them out to dinner, hold hands in the park?”

Sweet Pea couldn’t help but laugh at the thought. “Nah, girls on the Southside don’t usually go for all that crap. I tend to go for the more unorthodox, creative ways you can make a girl feel special.” He said with a smug look plastered on his face.

Lily was stunned into silence, a deep blush returning to her face. Sweet Pea was thoroughly amused, and rather proud of himself.

“It’s right up here on the right.”

Sweet Pea turned down her street slowly.

They pulled up in front of Lily’s house, she opened up the door to the truck and hopped out.

“Well thanks for the ride, I really appreciate it. I owe you.”

“Anytime princess, don’t worry about it.” He flashed her a quick smile. His smile made her stomach flip.

“Well, goodnight Sweet Pea.” She shut the door, turned, and headed toward the front door. She heard a car door open, and footsteps following behind her. “Lily?” She stopped and turned back to the raven-haired serpent, who was resting against the side of his truck.

“Hmm?”

“How’d you like to come to a little shin-dig my friends are having on the Southside this weekend?”

Lily glanced back toward her house, making sure her parents weren’t in the window waiting for their daughter to return home. The lights were off other than the porch light, so she figured she was in the clear.

“Y-you’re inviting me to a party?”

Sweet Pea looked around and shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t see why not, seems to me like you could loosen your ponytail a bit and have some fun.”

Lily thought about it, though she knew she shouldn’t have even  _entertained_  the idea. She knew there was no way her parents would allow her to go to a party. Especially with church in the morning.

“Well, I really appreciate you inviting me. But theres no way my parents will let me go.”

Sweet Pea laughed, “What? Trish never gave you any tips on sneaking out?”

“Are you suggesting I lie to my parents?”

“Mmm…not  _lie._ Just bend the truth a little. Give them some bogus excuse, like you’re going to a-uh…bible study or somethin’.”

“That wouldn’t work, _”_ Lily thought out loud. “My parents know that bible study is on Thursday nights.”

Sweet Pea looked at her in complete awe, she was a walking cliche. “You’ve gotta be shitting me, right?”

Lily sighed, shrugging her shoulders.

“Well regardless, I highly doubt your folks would ever guess you were in Southside with a bunch of Serpents.”

He wasn’t entirely wrong. Her parents fully trusted their only daughter, she was a good girl. They reminded her on a daily basis. Her parents would rave to their friends about how lucky they were to end up with such a good, responsible, dedicated daughter. Though Lily never felt she had the option to be anything but that, being the daughter of a pastor.

“Come on, it’ll be fun.” He reached out and grabbed her hand in his, gently tugging her body closer to his. His hands were large and rough compared to her much dainty, softer ones. Lily felt her hear skip a beat. She reached for her cross, twirling it around in her other hand. His eyes flickered down at the hand that she had clutched around her necklace, and then back to her big green eyes. They seemed to be wary. His eyes were dark, intense. Part of Lily wanted to look anywhere but at him. But an even bigger part of her never wanted to look away. Sweet Pea lifted his hand up to her face and softly ran his fingers against her cheek. His silver rings sent chills through her body as they slid down her jaw. His thumb briefly brushed her chin before he pulled his hand back. Lily’s heart was pounding like a drum against her chest, her cheeks now flushed. She knew that if he looked in her eyes just a second longer that there was no way she could have told him anything but-

“Yes.”

“Yes?”

“What-uh, I.” “ _Shoot”_ she silently scolded herself, she hadn’t meant to say that out loud. Sweet Pea looked at the blonde expectantly.

“I don’t know, my parents would be livid if they found out.”

Sweet Pea’s rolled his eyes at the small blonde. Lily averted her eyes to the ground, she felt a pang of sadness as he gently let go of her hand and made his way back around to the drivers side of the truck. “So I’ll pick you up on Friday at 9:30 then!”

Lily let out a sigh, a small smile threatening to appear. “Sweet Pea, I-”

“I’ll see ya then, blondie!” Sweet Pea smiled at her, giving her a small salute goodbye. She watched silently as he sped off into the darkness. She stood there with her feet frozen to the ground. She fiddled with the dainty cross that hung around her neck.

She was in  _big_  trouble.


	3. Then He Kissed Me

**Chapter Three: Then He Kissed Me**

_“d-d-d-d-d-ding! d-d-d-d-ding! d-d-d-d-ding!”_

Lily was pulled from her sleep by the ringing of her twin bell alarm clock, she shut off her alarm, threw back her fluffy white comforter and got out of bed. She stretched her limbs and trotted down the stairs, kissing her father on the cheek and grabbing a bowl of cereal.

“Good morning, princess. Did you sleep well?”

“Good morning, daddy. Any big plans for today?”

“Unfortunately I’ve got to go to the funeral home this afternoon for that poor boy that passed away last weekend. Did you hear about that?”

Of course she had heard about it, it was the talk of the town since his body was found. He was just a teenager. He was found passed out in his parent’s basement. Lily had heard rumors that he had overdosed on some sort of drug.

“Yeah, I’ve heard a few things.” Lily scooped up a spoonful of cereal and taking a bite.

Lily’s mother, Grace walked in from the kitchen and placed two coffee mugs on the table for her and Lily’s father.

“I was speaking with Mrs. Keller on the phone just yesterday, Tom claims it was an overdose on some new drug called “Jingle-jangle”. The family has been keeping it hush-hush, not that I blame them. Isn’t that a shame, that boy had his whole life ahead of him. Why, theses drugs must have come from the Southside, I have no doubt about that.”

Lily sat eating her breakfast silently. Her parents were always quick to pin things on the Southside. She didn’t think they could all be true.  _Could they?_

Lily’s father shook his head, “They’re nothing but bad news on that side of the tracks. You’d best steer clear of those people, Lily.”

She looked down at her food, nodding silently.

A smile came over his face, “Not that I’d ever have to worry about that, princess. You’re far too smart, a good girl. We couldn’t have been any luckier.” He beamed at his daughter.

If only he knew.

**

Lily finished her cereal and washed out the dish in the sink. It dawned on her that she still hadn’t heard from Trish since the big blow up with Archie last weekend, so she decided to give her a call.

She grabbed the telephone from her parents room and stretched the spiraled cord out to reach her bedroom.

_“Hello?.”_

“Oh hi Mrs. Vargas, is Trish available?”

_“Hi Lily how are you doing? She’s in her room, hold on just a second.”_

“Okay, thank you!” She could hear her mom calling up to her to pick up the phone.

_“Lily? What’s going on?”_

“Hey Trish, I’m good. Listen, I have a lot to tell you!”

“This wouldn’t have anything to do with a certain serpent would it?”

Lily lowered her voice to make sure her parents wouldn’t be able to hear her. She told Trish about her ride home with Sweet Pea after the carnival and the last minute invitation to the party on the Southside.

_“HOLY SMOKES! Lily, I think he likes you!”_

Lily blushed, “No, no I don’t think so, he was probably just being nice.”

Trish laughed at her modesty.  _“Trust me, sweet Pea isn’t known for being “nice”._

“It doesn’t matter anyway, I don’t think I’m gonna go.”

_“_ ** _WHAT_** _?! Have you gone silly? Lil’, Sweet Pea_   ** _personally_** _invited you to a Southside party and you’re “not sure” if you’re going? Of course you’re going! I’m going!”_

Lily lowered her voice, not wanting her parents to hear. “Well even if I wanted to, there’s no way I could. My parents would never allow it.”

_“Who said they need to know about it? Just tell them we’re going to the drive-in or something!”_

“Trish I cant lie to my parents, you know how strict they are. And besides, I have church in the morning and I can’t miss it.”

_“Lily come on. You’re always so worried about what your parents will think when there’s no way they would ever find out about it. I mean honestly, when’s the last time you just went out and had a good time? It’s time you take a walk on the wild side, just for one night.”_

Lily weighed her options, part of her wanted to stay home and just forget any of this had happened. It would be easier. But she, for some reason, didn’t want to disappoint Sweet Pea.

_“Don’t worry, Lily. I bet Jesus would do the same.”_

Lily rolled her eyes. “Very funny, Trish.” Trish laughed into the phone.  _“So are we going or not? Because if we are I need to start getting ready now!”_

“Wait, so you’re going to see Fangs?”

_“Of course, why wouldn’t I?”_

Lily felt like saying “ _Maybe because your boyfriend almost ripped Fangs’ head off when he merely_ ** _suspected_** _that something was going on between you two.”_

“I don’t know, no reason.” Lily fiddled with her gold cross and eventually let out a deep sigh.

“I guess we can make an appearance. But we  _cannot_  stay late, Trish. I really can’t miss church tomorrow, my dad will have a fit.”

_“YES! Oh my gosh this is going to be an absolute_ ** _blast_** _Lily, you’re going to love it! Oh my gosh I have to go get ready! See you later!”_ Trish abruptly hung up the phone before she could respond. She exhaled slowly, bringing the phone down from her ear.

Guess it was time to get ready.

***

Lily spent at least an hour rummaging through her wardrobe trying to find the perfect outfit to wear to the party that night. Nothing was coming together, and for the first time ever she had wished Trish was there to take over. She finally settled on a yellow gingham dress she hadn’t worn yet and a simple white cardigan. She wore her hair down in loose curls, and applied minimal makeup, just some mascara and light blush. She gave herself one more look in her vanity before heading downstairs. Her parents had offered to bring food over to the deceased boy’s family to offer their condolences after the wake. At least she didn’t have to worry about evading too many questions on her way out. She took out some stationary from the kitchen hutch and wrote a note on stating that she had gone to Trish’s house to help her with some summer work. She placed the note on the dining table when she heard a knock at the door. This was it.  She smoothed her hair once more and picked off a stray string hanging from her sundress before opening the door.

“SURPRISE!!!!” Lily jumped back with a gasp, her hand jerking up to cover her mouth in shock. She stood face to face with a now laughing Trish and Fangs on her front steps. There was no sign of Sweet Pea.

Lily’s hand flew to her chest. “Trish! You nearly gave me a heart attack. Where’s Sweet Pea?”

“SP had some last minute business to take care of, so he sent us to collect you. He’ll meet us there.”

“Oh, alright.” Lily thought it was

Fangs motioned to his car, “Shall we?”

**

The streetlights became far and few between as they crossed deeper into the Southside. Trish and Fangs held hands in the front seats, both of them singing along to the radio (admittedly horribly). At one point during the ride, Trish had stuck her torso out of the passenger window, the wind whipping through her hair as they sped down the empty streets. Fangs laughed along with her, glancing over at her every once in awhile with a big cheesy grin on his face. Lily had never seen her friend so genuinely happy and carefree, she was on cloud nine. Lily started to see why Trish enjoyed being with Fangs so much.

They eventually pulled up to a large building that appeared to be an old abandoned warehouse. Fangs parked the car by a row of motorcycles.

“Here she is, ladies! Welcome to the Whyte Wyrm!” The three of them exited the car, Lily took in her surroundings. The place was located in the middle of nowhere.. There was a flashing neon green serpent head hung over the entrance, next to it was another sign that simply read “BAR” in bright red letters. Fangs and Trish headed toward the entrance, Fangs stopped to talk with some other Serpents and lit up a smoke. Lily followed a few steps behind, tugging on Trish’s arm to get her attention.

Lily shout-whispered to her friend. “Trish, this is a bar. How are we going to get in? We’re not of age…”

Trish laughed at the blonde, taking her hand in hers. “Oh Lily, you are just too precious! There’s no need to worry about that here.” She reassured her.

Fangs returned to the two Northside girls, wrapping his arm around Trish’s waist. “You gals ready to have some fun?” Trish nodded her head excitedly and the three of them entered the Wyrm.

The inside of the bar was exactly as Lily had expected. The aroma was that of beer, cigarettes, and hair gel. Lots and  _lots_  of hair gel. They had entered a sea of leather, Serpents of all ages spread throughout the establishment. Loud music boomed through the open room. Young couples danced together on the floor, their bodies grinding against one another. The girls looked different from the ones back on the Northside. They wore bright colored, tight clothing and bold makeup. Their hair was big and wild. Lily couldn’t help but wonder if some of them were the girls Sweet Pea had been talking about the week prior.

Lily felt a light tap on her shoulder, Trish raised her voice over the music. “Fangs and I are gonna go dance.” She outstretched her arm past Lily and pointed to the right wall of the bar. “There’s your boy.”

Lily followed Trish’s finger over to one of the billiard tables that lined the wall furthest to the right of the entrance. Trish gave her friend a cheeky grin before Fangs pulled her into the crowd on the dance floor.

Sweet Pea was lining up a shot on the table, Lily watched as he pocketed the last two balls on the table in one shot. The group of serpents surrounding him erupted into cheers. One of them patted him heartily on the back. Sweet Pea brought a glass of amber colored liquor to his lips, downing the rest of its contents in a large gulp. Sweet Pea’s opponent, an older guy with long brown hair and beard begrudgingly handed over what looked like a $20 bill to him. Sweet Pea placed a cigarette in his mouth and pocketed the bill. His jacket was hanging off the back of a barstool behind the pool table, it was the first time Lily had seen him without it. He wore a tight white T-shirt that was tucked into his black jeans and his dog tags hung from his neck. The shirt really showed off his muscular build, his arms looked incredibly strong. Lily’s mind flashed back to when she grabbed his arm at the carnival and the way she could feel his muscles flex against her touch. Lily watched as Sweet Pea ran his fingers through his hair, slicking it back except for that one curl that fell just above his eye. He lit the cigarette that had been resting between his lips, inhaling deeply and blowing out some smoke. Lily thought he looked…hot.

Sweet Pea looked up, taking a puff from his cigarette as he locked eyes with the small blonde. His lips curled into a smirk, and he grabbed his jacket off the stool and throwing it on before he sauntered over to her. “You know, kitten. You stick out like a sore thumb in here.”

“I didn’t get the leather jacket memo.”

“As much as I love the thought of you in a leather jacket, I think the pastels and sweaters suit you better.” Lily let out a nervous chuckle.

“I need another drink, you want anything?”

Lily looked over to the bar and then back to Sweet Pea before lowering her voice. “I’m not 18 yet. I can’t drink alcohol.”

Sweet Pea raised his eyebrows at her in amusement before lowering his head down to her ear. “How about this? You don’t say anything to the cops, and neither will I.” Lily gave him a stern look, crossing her arms. “Seriously, you’re fine here. Especially if you’re with me.”

Sweet Pea led Lily over to the main bar at the back of the room, his hand resting on the small of her back guiding her forward. There was one bartender on duty, a short girl with light brown skin and pink streaks in her hair. She wore a bright pink off the shoulder top and tight black satin pants.

“Topaz!”

The pink haired girl handed two serpents a couple of beers and made her way over to their end of the bar. She looked up at Sweet Pea, a hint of annoyance in her eyes.

“What do you want, beanstalk?”

“I’ll have another whiskey, and how ‘bout a Singapore Sling for the lady. Add it to my tab.” Toni started to prepare the couple’s drinks.

Lily looked up at him with skeptical eyes before asking “A Singapore Sling?”

Sweet Pea rested his hand on her waist. “It’s sweet, you’ll like it.”

“You’re a new one.” Toni acknowledged the small blonde before setting down their drinks. “What’s your name sweetheart?”

“My name is Lily, Lily Green. Nice to meet you.”

“Toni, Topaz. If this guy gives you any trouble just give me shout, I’ll straighten him out for you. He’s not nearly as tough as he looks.” She gave Lily a playful wink.

Sweet Pea rolled his eyes, taking his glass of whiskey. “Thanks Topaz.” She walked away laughing on her way to serve the other Serpents.

Sweet Pea handed Lily her drink, it was vibrant red in color like a maraschino cherry. She took a small sip from her straw and swallowed it, her face scrunched up at the bold aftertaste of alcohol. Sweet Pea let out a rumble of laughter.

“I take it you’re not a big drinker.” He joked.

“No, the only time I’ve drank was at my cousins wedding. I had my own glass of champagne.” She said matter of factly.

“Of course you did.”

She glowered at him and took another, longer sip from the glass. She figured the faster she drank it the faster it would be gone.

“I’ve gotta say, princess. I’m surprised you showed up.”

“I figured it was time for me to have some fun.”

“I’m glad you did.” He flashed Lily a quick smile. He had a beautiful smile, complete with dimples.

“So what do you Northside girls do for fun anyways, you know, other than organizing bake sales and lying to their parents about sneaking over to the Southside?”

“There’s not a whole lot to do. Usually I just hang out with Trish, but lately she’s been pretty…preoccupied.” Lily took another big sip of the red elixir before continuing. “So this summer I’ve mostly been focusing on ballet and church.”

“Church girl, huh?” Sweet Pea raised his eyebrows at her and lifted his glass to take a sip of the deep amber liquid.

“Yeah, well I didn’t have much of a choice not to be. My dad is a pastor.”

Sweet Pea choked on his drink, his chocolate brown eyes nearly popping out of his head. He took a second to clear his throat. Lily stood there watching him with wide eyes.

“Your dads a  _what_?”

“He’s pastor, at a church on the Northside.” Lily sipped her drink nonchalantly. Sweet Pea downed the rest of his.

“Are you pullin’ my leg?”

She shook her head no.

Sweet Pea ran his hand back through his hair. “ _Ah, shit_.”

_Of course_  she was the pastors daughter. As if she couldn’t be more of a cliche. Sweet Pea downed the rest of his drink, slamming the glass down on the bar with an audible “ _clink_ ”. “Hey Topaz can I get a refill!?” Toni sent him a look of exasperation, and went to pour him another drink.

Lily looked at Sweet Pea, taken aback by his reaction. He seemed a bit frazzled.

Sweet Pea turned back to her, “You need another one?”

“Are you okay, Pea? You nearly choked to death.”

He grabbed his replenished glass off the bar top and took a large gulp.

“Me? Oh I’m fine. I think I just uh, swallowed wrong or somethin’.”

Lily nodded her head silently. Maybe she shouldn’t have told him about her father, at least not so soon. Most teenage boys would locate the nearest exit and bolt upon finding out Lily’s father was a pastor. Most boys her age were looking for a quick hookup, and the stigma behind church girls was that you could look but don’t even think about touching.

Lily slurped up the last sip of her drink through her straw, she began to feel sort of light and airy. Perhaps she shouldn’t have downed her drink so quickly. She placed her glass on the ledge of the bar.

“Hey, Pea? I think I’m gonna head to the ladies room.” Sweet Pea’s mind was racing, vivid images of a very angry father showing up at his doorstep and splashing him with holy water flashed through his head.

“Hmm? Oh, yeah. I’ll order you another drink while you’re gone.” He forced a smile at the cute blonde before she turned in search of the bathroom, giggling when she almost walked into one of the other Serpents. Sweet Pea leaned against the side of the bar.

He knew she was forbidden territory. He remembered hearing some of the guys talking about it one night at the Wyrm.  _“That’s the thing with those church girls, they’re a bunch of teases. They play hard to get, maybe let you make out a little bit but that’s it.” The guys all nodded their heads. Don’t expect to seal the deal unless you plan on putting a ring on her finger.”_ Not that Sweet Pea had planned on “sealing the deal” with Lily, he hadn’t even thought about it.

Okay, maybe he  _had_ thought about it. But that was out of the question now.

“Earth to Sweet Pea?” Toni snapped her fingers in front of her friend’s face. “What’s with you? You look like your dog just died.” His pink haired friend glanced around him, “Where’d “Susie High School" run off to? She late for a a prayer group or something?”

“Shove it, Topaz. She just went to the bathroom.”

“Ya know, I have to say. She’s not your usual type. Far from it. I know its none of my business but for your sake, I hope she’s easier than she looks.” She said with a chuckle, shaking her head as she wiped down the counter.

“Yeah you’re right, it’s none of your business. Can I get another drink?”

“You know, I don’t even know why FP pays you anymore. You’d make out better if he just paid your bar tabs.” Sweet Pea scoffed, watching as Toni poured him another glass and made another Slinger for Lily.

“What’s going on over here?” Fangs gave Sweet Pea a pat on the shoulder and looked between his two best friends. He noticed the disgruntled look on Sweet Pea’s face. “SP, what’s got your panties in a twist?”

Sweet Pea glowered at his friend. “Get bent, Fogarty.”

“Hey how’s it going with Lily? I know she’s a little different from what you’re used to but you could probably still have a little fun with her, eh?” Fangs nudged his friend with a wink. “She’s cute, right? Got that whole innocent Northsider thing goin’ for her.”

“Innocent doesn’t even begin to cover it. Turns out she’s the daughter of a pastor.”

There was a silent pause between the group, his two friends shared glances with one another before they both bursted out laughing.

“Oh  _shit_. Good luck with that, man. I hope you’ve been reading up on your 10 commitments-HA!”

“It’s 10 Commandments, jackass.” Toni rolled her eyes, giving him the same look an older sibling would give to their immature brother.

“Oh listen to the Virgin Mary over here.” Fangs rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. Toni laughed at the childish look on Fangs’ face. Sweet Pea sat with his head in his hands, completely unamused by the whole situation.

“What’s so funny over here?” Lily had returned from the restroom, Trish by her side. Trish raised an eyebrow at the group of Serpents.

“Yeah guys, whats so funny?”

Sweet Pea turned away from his friends. “Uh, nothing. Fogarty’s just making an ass of himself.” He handed the girl her drink and grabbed his own. “You mind if we step outside for a little bit, get some fresh air? It’s getting a little crowded in here.”

“Uh, sure.” Lily turned to Toni, a cheery grin on her face. “It was nice meeting you, I’ll see you around!”

Toni winked at the girl. “See ya around!” She watched as the two headed toward the front entrance, Sweet Pea flipped her the bird behind his back before disappearing into the crowd.

**

The parking lot of the Wyrm was dark and quiet, motorcycles and muscle cars lined each row. Sweet Pea pulled out the cigarette that was tucked behind his ear then reached into his pocket, feeling around until his fingers felt the cool metal of his zippo lighter. Lily stood to the side of him and watched as the handsome serpent pulled out his lighter, bringing it up to light the cigarette hanging from his lips. There was something about that brief moment that made Lily’s knees feel weak.

Sweet Pea caught her looking up at him. She had beautiful eyes, bright green that lit up even in the dimly lit parking lot. She had a perfect, petite little nose, and a light sprinkle of freckles across the bridge of it that he hadn’t noticed before. Her lips were perfectly full, Sweet Pea wondered what they might feel like against his. He let out a sigh before taking another drag from his cigarette.  _“Not that I’ll ever find out.”_ What the hell was he even doing with this girl in the first place? His initial intentions were simple. He figured she was a pretty girl, she’d be fun to flirt with. Maybe they’d even mess around a little bit and that would be that. But he couldn’t help but feel there was something more than that. And that terrified him.

Lily finally broke the silence. “That girl Toni seemed very nice.”

“Topaz? Yeah, she’s a hot ticket. She’s one of my best friends. Her and Fangs, we all grew up together in Sunnyside Trailer Park.” Lily leaned against the brick exterior of the Wyrm to steady herself.

“She’s very pretty, its a wonder you two never got together.” Her voice dripped with curiosity and a hint of…jealousy? She realized that came out different than she had intended it to. She took another long sip from her drink, which was clearly taking affect.

Sweet Pea chuckled, he sensed a slight hint of jealousy behind her words. “Eh, we had a thing a long time ago. But honestly I’m not really her type.” Lily’s brows came together in confusion.

“She’s more likely go after you.”

Lily’s eyes widened. “Ohhhh…I see.”

Lily didn’t think there was anything wrong with that, it was just a taboo subject that nobody in her circle really talked about. Sweet Pea lightly laughed at her innocent response and pulled in some smoke from his cigarette. He couldn’t help but laugh to himself when he spotted her across the room earlier. A spot of blonde and pastel in a sea of black. She was cute as hell, and she seemed like a really nice girl. Most girls like her would spit on a guy like him. Even though he knew he couldn’t let things progress much further, Sweet Pea genuinely wanted to show Lily a good time. At least for the night. He let out a breath of smoke before turning to her.

“Hey, you said you’re a dancer right?”

“Yeah, I’ve been taking ballet classes since I was practically in diapers.”

“ _Explains those legs”_  Sweet Pea thought to himself.

“How’d you like to go in and dance? Maybe you could teach me a thing or two.”

Lily looked up at him, she fixated on the singular dark curl that fell above his eye. Lily didn’t know what came over her, likely the effects of that second red drink Toni had given her. She reached up and fingered that singular curl. “I think I’d like that very much.” She gave the tall serpent (what she hoped came across as) a flirtatious smile. Sweet Pea was taken by surprise. He took a step closer to to the small blonde, towering over her small frame and trapping her against the side of the Wyrm.

“Yeah?” Sweet pea took one last drag from his cigarette and tossed it to the ground, stamping it out with his foot. He rested one arm by her head against the wall and lifted the other one up to caress her blonde curls. Lily felt her stomach do a flip. The two of them locked eyes for a brief moment. The air was silent, save for the heavy thumps coming from Lily’s chest. He smelled like whiskey, smoke, and minty aftershave. Lily found it intoxicating. Sweet Pea lowered his head down to hers, their lips only mere inches from each other.

Suddenly Lily slid out from underneath Sweet Pea’s arm that had trapped her against the wall.

Sweet Pea stood up straight, cocking his head toward her with a questioning look. Lily reached out to grab his hand. “Come on snake, let’s rattle.” She gave a flirtatious smile to the tall Serpent and dragged him to the entrance of the bar, pushing the door open. This girl was going to be the death of him.

The Wyrm was in full swing, bodies crowded the floor swaying and gyrating to the rhythm of the music that blared through the bar. The music was fast paced, couples buzzed around the room dancing movements that were anything but holy. Lily’s eyes widened at the sight, they definitely hadn’t danced like that at Riverdale High’s Homecoming.

Lily felt a large warm hand rest on her lower back, Sweet pea lowered his head to her hear “It’s probably a little different from what they teach you in your ballet class, but you might like it.” He took her glass from her hand and placed it on a nearby bar table.

Lily chewed on her bottom lip, Sweet Pea gave her a gentle nudge toward the dance floor.

They reached a clearing in the crowd of bodies and a new song started.

Sweet Pea started to move his hips with the beat, he wrapped his arms around Lily’s waist and pulled her body tightly against his.

Sweet Pea slowly slid down Lily’s body, her eyes bugging out of her head at his actions.

_Goodness gracious, great balls of fire_

He stood back up to tower over her, placing his arm around the small of her back, swaying them side to side then rolling her out in a spin and pulling her back tightly to his chest. Lily’s breathing was heavy, but she a smile on her lips. Her back was pressed against Sweet Pea’s chest, his hands snaking up her hip to find her waist, pulling her even closer to him.

_You kissed me baby, woo, it feels good Hold me baby, learn to let me love you like a lover should._

Lily’s eyes nearly popped out of her head at the feeling of him pressed against her. She suddenly wished she had finished that second drink.

Sweet Pea’s lips brushed against the shell of her ear,softly singing the lyrics “ _You’re fine, so kind”_

He grabbed her hips with both of his hands and swiveled his hips against her body. She wiggled her hips back into him.

_I’m a nervous world that your mine mine mine mine_

He turned her to face him again, one hand on her back letting her torso fall back and swing back up to his a smirk on his face as he looked down at her. She wrapped her arms around the serpent’s neck, Sweet Pea wedged his knee in the space between her legs and grinded against her. Her breathing was heavy, she fluttered her eyes up at him. Her body felt like it was on fire. Sweet Pea spun her around one last time as the song came to an end.

“See? Not too bad.” Lily looked up at Sweet Pea who wore that devilish smirk on his face as he watched her. She gave him a sweet smile. The two stood there silently for a beat, both of them catching their breath. It had been more fun than Lily had expected. (Truthfully, she hadn’t wanted it to end so soon.) The feeling of Sweet Pea’s body grinding against hers awoke an unfamiliar feeling within her.

A slower song came over the speakers and the crowd broke up into couples. She spotted Betty and Jughead across the room. Betty had her arms wrapped around Jughead’s neck, the two of them softly laughing together. They were a sweet couple, they seemed to be happy. Sweet Pea cocked an eyebrow at Lily, offering his hand to her. She glanced at him and smiled to herself before accepting his hand. Sweet Pea twirled her to him, his hands smoothly landing on her waist while hers snaked around his neck.

“I take it this is more your speed?” He said with a deep chuckle. Lily giggled, “Yeah, I’m less inclined to make a fool of myself this way.”

“No, you were great.” Lily smiled shyly, looking away from him. Sweet Pea pulled her chin back to look him in the eyes. “I mean it.” She nodded her head silently.

“How did you learn to dance like that?” She inquired.

“I dunno if it’s something you learn. I guess you just kind of feel it.”

“Ballet has never made me feel like that, if I’m honest.” She said with a light chuckle. “It made me feel…alive, I guess. It was exhilarating.”

Sweet Pea pulled her even closer to him, her head rested on his shoulder. Her hair smelled of peaches and vanilla. God, what had gotten into him? Something about Lily had Sweet Pea wrapped around her finger. The night was one of the better ones he’d had. But he knew there was no way it could work. They couldn’t be more different. He was the devil and she was an angel. The song came to an end, and Lily slowly pulled away from the tall serpent.

Suddenly, Fangs and Trish appeared by the couple’s side.

“Jug, SP! Ghoulies just pulled up outside!”

Sweet Pea pulled his arms away from Lily’s waist and looked down to her fearful eyes. “Stay right here. I’ll be back.”

Sweet Pea pushed his hair back, straightened out his serpent jacket and followed Jughead and Fangs out the front door of the bar.

Across from where the serpents stood were a group of hellish looking men.  _The Ghoulies_. They were a rival gang of the Serpents. They were always stirring up trouble, often leaving the Serpents to take the blame.

“You having a party without me, Jones? I’m heartbroken.”

“This isn’t your turf, Malachai.”

“Bite me, snake. Me and my boys wouldn’t have to show up here like this if you’d just hand over the money you owe us.”

“I told you, we’re working on it. Business has slowed down due to recent events.”

Sweet Pea shifted uncomfortably and jumped in, “The fuzz has been turning our side of town upside down ever since what happened with that Northsi-.”

“Hey nimrod I didn’t ask for your little sob story. Just asked where my money was.”

Sweet Pea’s eyes narrowed and he reached into the pocket of his jeans searching for his switchblade. Jughead pulled his arm back. “Don’t start anything SP, the girls are watching.” Sweet Pea paused, looking back at Lily who stood on the front steps with Trish and Betty. He dropped the blade into his pocket. Jughead nodded at his friend and turned back to Malachai, who stood there with a wicked look in his eye.

“You’ll get your money next week. Now get lost, freaks.”

**

The crowd of serpents watched as the Ghoulies disappeared into the darkness of the night. Sweet Pea turned around and locked eyes with Lily. She looked  _so_  out of place. The rest of the serpents filed back inside to carry on with the party. Sweet Pea pulled out a smoke from his jacket pocket and lit it as he walked over to where Lily stood. “I told you to stay inside, Lily.”

She ignored him. “Who were those guys?”

Sweet Pea exhaled a cloud of smoke. “They’re just a bunch of creeps is all.”

“Creeps that you owe money? What for?”

“That’s not for you to worry about, darlin’.”

She gave up, rolling her eyes at him. She didn’t want to press the matter further, he already seemed to be in a poor mood as it were.

Lily placed her hand on his forearm and gave him a comforting squeeze. She could tell something was troubling him. His muscles flexed beneath her unexpected touch.

Sweet Pea looked up at her, she offered him a sweet smile.

“Do you wanna get out of here? Go for a drive or something?”

“Actually I’ve got to head home soon, Pea. I’ve got church in the morning.” Sweet Pea nodded.

“I’ll give you a lift back.”

**

The ride to Lily’s house was mostly quiet, except for the radio. Lily finally decided to break the silence.

“So how long have you been with the Serpents?”

“Pretty much my whole life. Grew up in the Southside, family didn’t have much. I started doing a few jobs on the side for FP, Jughead’s old man. Eventually I dropped out of school, officially joined the Serpents when I was 15.”

“15? Sweet Pea that’s so young.”

“Yeah well we were strapped for cash, had to pay the bills somehow.”

“What is it exactly that you do?”

“You ever heard the story of Robin Hood?”

“Yes…The thief that takes from the rich and gives to the poor.”

“Think of us kinda like that. We do what we have to do to support our own.”

His answer didn’t fully satisfy her question but she didn’t want to push her luck.

“Sweet Pea…you’ve never, ya know…hurt anyone  _right_?”

“You writing a novel, blondie?” Sweet Pea said with a smirk. Lily knew she was asking too many questions, but it wasn’t everyday that she was in a car with a gang member.

“If you’re wondering if I’ve killed anyone, the answer’s no. I’ve hurt a lot of people.” Lily let out a small sigh. “But nobody dares to push me to that point.” Lily looked over at him. His eyes were dark.

The truck came to a stop at the end of her street. She didn’t want her parents to see the unfamiliar vehicle.

“I had a really nice time tonight Sweet Pea, thank you again for inviting me. It’s the most fun I’ve had in…well, ever.” She said shyly.

“Don’t worry about it, I had a fun time tonight too. I’m glad you decided to come.”

“Well, I guess I’d better go.” Lily unbuckled her safety belt and went to grab the door handle when Sweet Pea put his hand over hers.

“I’d like to see you again. Ya know, if that’s cool with you.” He said as nonchalantly as he could manage, Lily smiled at him.

“I think I would like that, too.”

“Well I’ve got some stuff goin’ on this week, but if you’re around Friday-“

“Yes. Friday works fine.”

“Okay, I’ll see you Friday then.”

Lily slowly walked to her front door. As she was about to reach for the doorknob, she heard footsteps against the stone walkway behind her. She turned her head and looked up at Sweet Pea, who held her head in his hands caressing her cheek. “One more thing…” Sweet Pea lowered his head down to hers, Lily tilted her chin up slightly and her eyes fluttered shut. Sweet Pea took this as his cue and pressed his lips to hers, softly gliding his lips against hers and brought his hand up to the back of her head, pulling her in closer to him. Her lips gently moved against his, they were even softer than he had imagined. Lily stood on her tip toes to reach her arms around his neck. Sweet Pea lowered his hands to her tiny waist, pulling her flush against him, gently letting his tongue slid over the opening of her lips. She pulled back with a gasp, her cheeks were blushing pink. Sweet Pea could hear her heart beating against her chest.

The two of them stood there taking in one another. Sweat Pea coolly smoothed back his hair and let out a breath. “So I’ll see you on Friday then?”

She took a step back to steady herself and giggled. “Yeah, Friday.”

Lily quietly padded up the stairs and into her bedroom, careful not to wake her parents. She went to the small bathroom to brush her teeth and wipe her makeup off. She changed into a pair of pink cotton pj’s and went back to her room. She laid back on her bed and replayed the moment she received her first kiss over and over again until her eyes became heavy and she drifted off to sleep.


	4. A Teenager's Romance

**Chapter Four: A Teenager’s Romance**

“YOU HAD YOUR FIRST KISS!?!?!!”

Lily giggled into her pillow, her and Trish finally had a night to themselves and Lily spilled the beans about her night with Sweet Pea. Trish sat on the opposite end of Lily’s bed criss-cross-applesauce listening intently.

“Well…? How was it? I bet he’s a  _really_  good kisser.”

“It was… _sweet_.” Lily replayed the moment in her head for probably the millionth time.

“He must really like you, Lil’. I’m so happy for you!” She beamed at her friend. She loved seeing her like this, there was a new side of Lily that she hadn’t seen before Sweet Pea.

“So how’s everything going with Fangs?”

Trish sighed in contentment, her shoulders relaxing. “Lily he is just the most! I’ve never laughed so hard with anyone in my entire life, and he’s  _such_  a dreamboat. He makes me feel…special. And you know what?” Lily peered up at her expectantly, a small smile on her lips. “I think I’m in love!” Trish giggled, playfully outstretching her arms to the sky. The short sleeve of her silk pajama top slid up with the movement, revealing the skin up to her shoulder.

Lily noticed a couple of bruises on the newly exposed skin of her upper arm, it looked like someone had roughly grabbed her. “Trish? What is this from? Are you okay?”

Trish looked to her shoulder and immediately pulled her sleeve back down to cover it. “Oh, that? It’s nothing really.” She laughed it off, but Lily was far from convinced that it was “nothing”.

“I’ve just been such a klutz lately.”

“Trish…”

“Really Lily, I’m fine. Nothing I can’t handle.”

Archie must have suspected something was going on with Trish. Lily knew he had a temper, the two of them would get into arguments all of the time, but things had become physical recently.

Trish was quick to change the subject. “In other news, a little birdie told me you’re going on a date with Sweet Pea on Friday?”

Lily had been thinking about it since the night he asked to see her again. She’d get the jitters every time she would think about it. Her first real date. She’d wished she could have told her mom all about it like most girls could, but if she found out she was going out with a Serpent she would have her head on a stake.

“Yeah, I’m sort of nervous. I’ve never been on a real date before.”

“It’ll be incredible. Plus, me and Fangs might meet up with you guys at the drive-in, so I’ll be there for moral support.”

“I’m just worried. Maybe he doesn’t really like me and he’s just looking for a quick hookup or something? Do you think maybe I shouldn’t have kissed him?”

Trish shook her head. “Lil’ you’re completely overthinking it. It’s  _obvious_  that he likes you, and according to Fangs he’s never like this with most girls.”

Lily nodded her head, it was comforting to hear that. “I sure hope you’re right.”

**

It was now 5 minutes past 6 and Sweet Pea was nowhere to be seen. Her parents had their weekly game night with the Keller’s. Lily sat at the kitchen table, nervously fiddling with the gold cross around her neck. Though it had only been 5 minutes past the time he said he’d be there, she already began filling her head with doubt. Maybe he didn’t really like her? Did she scare him off by telling him her father was a holy man? Had she wasted her first kiss on some guy that would never talk to her again? She felt so silly, she never should have let her guard down like that. It was entirely unlike her.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the ring of the doorbell. Lily stood up from her chair collecting her small white clutch and raced to the front door, stopping by the full length mirror that hung in the hall to check her hair that she wore down in soft blonde waves. She decided to go for her usual minimal makeup look, just a bit of soft pink blush and mascara to accentuate her green eyes. She wore a pale pink floral dress and a pair of saddle shoes. She was ready. She took a deep breath and opened the front door, there he stood towering over her. He was dressed in his usual attire, Serpent jacket, white tee and black jeans. He was holding something behind his back.

“Hey”

“Hey yourself.” His eyes ran over her petite figure. He couldn’t believe how good she looked. She looked almost angelic. Lily was _different_ from the other girls he had gone with in the past. Pea also wasn’t usually one to go for shorter girls. But he couldn’t deny the fact that he loved the way he towered over her.

Lily felt self conscious under his gaze. Did she do too much? She knew they were only going to Pop’s and then to the drive-in, but she had wanted to look nice. But the way Sweet Pea was looking at her in that moment made her second guess herself.

“Hey, I uh. Ehem” He cleared his throat. “I got you something.” He pulled his hand out from behind his back to reveal a small bouquet of ivory white flowers.

“They’re lilies, you know…Like your name. That’s what the guy at the- _uh_  place said anyways. I dunno, it’s kind of lame…It was Toni’s ide-“

Lily walked up to the blabbering Serpent and planted a soft kiss to his cheek to shut him up. She accepted the bouquet that he held out to her, the sweet aroma of the flowers filling her senses.

“I love them, thank you Sweet Pea.”

He smiled down at her, nonchalantly shrugging his shoulders. “No problem, they were all my idea.”

Lily couldn’t help but roll her eyes, she locked the door behind her as they started toward the driveway. There was no sign of Sweet Pea’s truck. But there was a shiny black Ford De Luxe in near perfect condition. The paint glistened in the moonlight.

“This is a bit of an upgrade from the truck. Is it new?”

“Sorta, me and Jug have been fixing her up for a couple of months. We’re gonna race it down by Sweetwater River.”

“You race cars?”

“Sometimes just for fun, sometimes for pinks.”

“Well, she’s beautiful.”

Sweet Pea watched as Lily’s dainty finger glided over the smooth black exterior of the Ford De Luxe. If her face was anything to go by, she seemed impressed. He lifted his lips into a smirk, “She sure is.”

Lily looked up at him, realizing he was watching her. She looked down at her feet, smiling.

**

It was a Friday night, and Pop’s was in full swing. Sweet Pea and Lily walked in and spotted a booth in the back left corner and made a run for it before it was taken. They slid into their seats on opposite sides of the booth. A pretty blonde waitress skated over, her hair was tucked back in a high ponytail and she greeted them with a friendly smile. Lily recognized her as Betty Cooper. She lived the next street over from her, they had taken a few classes together. She was a very sweet, very smart girl.

“Lily! How are you? How’s your summer so far?”

“Hi, Betty!” She then noticed Sweet Pea on the opposite side of the booth.

“Hey Sweet Pea, how’ve you been?”

“Not too bad. Could we just get a couple of shakes? One chocolate and….” Sweet Pea looked over at Lily and then back to Betty “One vanilla.”

“Two shakes; one chocolate, one vanilla. You got it.” She flashed them a smile and skated back to the counter to put in their order.

“She’s a real nice girl, I’ve had a few classes with her.”

“Betty? Yeah, she stops by the Wyrm every once in awhile to see Jones. Turns out she’s one hell of a mechanic, she’s helped us out at the garage a few times.”

“I didn’t even know they were an item until I saw them at the Wyrm last week.”

“Yeah, most Northsiders don’t want people knowing they’re hanging around with Serpents. They’re keeping it low-key.”

A few minutes passed when Betty brought over their shakes and placed them on the table with the check. “There you guys are!” They both thanked her and dove into their shakes.

“Mmm, this is delicious. How’d you know vanilla was my favorite?” Lily questioned.

Sweet Pea shrugged, a smile threatening to break out. “Lucky guess.”

Sweet Pea watched her take a sip from her straw, she had a bit of whipped cream just below her bottom lip. Sweet Pea reached over and ran his thumb over the spot, lingering a bit over the bottom curve of her lip. The two locked eyes, and her stomach did a little flip.

**

Once they finished their shakes and payed the bill, the two hopped back in the car and made their way over to the drive in to meet up with Trish and Fangs. Cars littered the parking lot, mostly packed with teenagers and their dates. Lily’s father often warned her of the “dangers of the drive-in”. He claimed it was nothing but a hot spot for kids to meet up and do “unholy things.” Lily wasn’t entirely naive, she knew a lot of guys would bring girls there to make out, sometimes even more. Regardless, she genuinely liked the drive-in, Trish and her and been going there together for years. Some of their best memories took place there.

Sweet Pea spotted Fangs standing outside his car having a smoke. He pulled into the parking space next to him and rolled down his window to talk.

Fangs’ eyes lit up, roaming over the body of the fixed up car. “WOAH! Check her out!” Fangs circled around it, leaning in to check out the details. “We’re gonna kick those Ghoulies asses down at Sweetwater,  _in style._ ” Fangs had a wide, child-like grin on his face.

“She cleaned up pretty nice huh?”

“Hell yeah. I hardly even recognized the ole hunk of junk” He turned to Sweet Pea, he looked as though he had an epiphany. “SP, this car could be make-out city!”

Lily leaned forward and interrupted.“Hi Fangs.”

“Oh-uh. Hey Lily!” He said rather clumsily, “Didn’t see ya there.” Sweet Pea let out a deep sigh.

“Hey, Where’s Trish?”

“Turns out she’s not coming, said she had a “last minute commitment” or somethin’. I dunno. Figured I’d come check out the scene anyway.” That immediately worried Lily, she hoped everything was okay with Trish. It was unlike her to miss night out with Fangs. “Hey you guys want anything? I’m gonna hit the snack bar.”

“Nah, I’m cool man. Lily? Want anything?”

“Could you please grab me a bottle of coke?”

Fangs nodded. “You got it!” and strolled over to the snack bar, combing his hair back on the way over.

Lily watched as Sweat Pea took out a cigarette and brought it to his lips. He looked down at Lily and raised his eyebrows, “You want one?”

“Me? Oh, no. I’ve never smoked before.”

Sweet Pea gave her an amused look, “Ya don’t say?” He chuckled and blew out a cloud of smoke.

“You look really beautiful by the way. I don’t know if I already told you that.”

Lily blushed, “Thanks, you don’t look half bad yourself.”

“Glad you think so, darlin’.” Sweet Pea smiled, puffing on his cigarette. Lily watched as the smoke billowed out of the drivers side window.

“Hey Pea?”

“Hmm?”

“I had a really good time with you last weekend. I can’t thank you enough for inviting me.”

“Anytime you want to have some fun just let me know.”

“And thank you for the-“ She laughed nervously. “Well, you know.” She felt the heat crawl up to her cheeks.

“The kiss?” He looked at her, amused. He loved how shy she was, he found it very endearing.

“Yea, the kiss. It was…nice.”

“Well, kitten. There’s plenty more where that one came from.” Sweet Pea winked at the blonde, whose cheeks had since grown pink. The opening credits began, Sweet Pea tossed his cigarette out the window snaked his arm around Lily’s shoulders. She let her body sink into him. She smiled up at him and they locked eyes. Sweet Pea leaned his head in closer to the small blonde. His lips hovered just above hers when the back door to the car flung open, Fangs hopped in the back seat and slammed the door shut with a loud exhale. Sweet Pea pulled his head back and leaned back against his headrest. He closed his eyes in annoyance. If there was one thing that Sweet Pea hated Fangs for, it was his impeccable timing. Fangs extended his arm out between the two, a bottle of coke in his hand. “One pop for the missus.” Lily let out a soft laugh, taking the drink from his hand. “Thank you, Fangs.”

“No problem, toots.” Fangs sunk back in his seat, making himself comfortable as he shoveled a handful of buttery popcorn into his mouth. “Did I miss anything?” Sweet Pea rolled his eyes, glaring at his friend in the rearview mirror. “OOOO! I love the opening credits! It’s the one with the little dancing popcorn guy, I love it!” Fangs let out a laugh and began singing along with the music. “Let’s all go to the mooooovies! Let’s all go to the mooooooovies! Let’s all go to the mooooooviiiiiiiiiiii-UNH!” Sweet Pea had turned around and grabbed his friend by the collar of his leather jacket. Lily sat there, eyes glued to the screen trying to hold back her laughter.

“HEY- whats it to ya?!”

“Hit the pavement, Fogarty.”

“Oh come on SP, you’re not gonna make me watch the movie all by myself are ya?”

Sweet Pea nudged his head toward Lily, his eyebrows raising. Sweet Pea swore he watched the gears slowly begin to turn in Fangs’ head.

“ _OH_. Oh, yeah. I’ll just catch up with you guys later then. Enjoy the movie.”

Fangs opened up the door, and sauntered away from the car with his bucket of popcorn.

“Sorry about him, he’s a pain in my ass.”

“No, thats okay. I think he’s rather funny.”

“Oh yeah, a regular Moe Howard.” Sweet Pea scoffed, he replaced his arm around Lily’s shoulders and continued watching the movie. Throughout the film, the pair took turns stealing glances at one another. Sweet Pea lightly caressed her shoulder, the small contact sending a shiver down her spine. Lily looked over to him.

“Do you like the movie? You seem distracted.”

“Oh, yeah. The movie’s great. I’ve just been thinking…”

“…About?” Lily looked at him curiously.

“This.” Sweet Pea placed his hand under her chin, guiding her lips to his. He placed a firm kiss against her lips and pulled back. Lily looked up at him under her lashes and pulled him closer to her, their lips connecting again. They moved against each other a little more than before. Lily’s fingers held tightly to the lapels of his leather jacket. Sweet Pea ran his tongue over her bottom lip and she let out a small gasp just as Sweet Pea slid his tongue between her lips. She let her tongue gently caress against his. She had never understood what could be so great about someones tongue in your mouth, it seemed disgusting. Although at first it caught her off-guard, but then she thought it was kind of nice. Different, but nice. She suddenly felt an unfamiliar ache deep down, an ache for something more. She let her fingers become tangled in his dark hair as Sweet Pea pulled her body closer to his. He let one hand slowly slide down her subtle curves and down to her waist. She involuntarily moved her body a little closer to his. She seemed like she was into it, so he dared to venture his hand a little further down her side past the curve of her hip and stopped at her knee. Lily let out a small sigh into his mouth. She had never felt as good a she did in that moment, yet she somehow wanted more. She wasn’t sure what “more” was exactly, but she yearned for it. Sweet Pea gently rubbed his thumb against the side of her knee and slowly started to creep up her leg, his fingers sliding just past the hem of her cotton dress and pushing the fabric up her soft thigh.

Lily jerked back. “Sweet Pea!” Lily said with a gasp, smoothing out her skirt and protectively wrapping her arms around herself. She was shocked. Mostly in shock of herself for letting things escalate so quickly, but also how her body hadn’t wanted him to stop.

“Sorry, I got carried away.” Sweet Pea looked at her apologetically, letting out a deep sigh. Sweet Pea really wasn’t used to taking things slow, he was used to drunken one night stands. He knew things with Lily would be different, she just wasn’t that type.

“ _I’m_  sorry. I’m just not used to this.” She admitted to him bashfully.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m not gonna force you to do anything.” He rubbed his hand over his face. “I’ll try to slow down.”

She thought it was sweet of him. Although admittedly, she wasn’t sure that she wanted him to slow down. Especially after that. “Thank you, you’re a real gentleman.”

“That’s a first. “ Sweet Pea gave her a small smile,  _what in the hell_ was he doing? He’d only hung out with this chick a handful of times and it was as though she had cast a spell on him.

His thoughts were interrupted by a second gasp from Lily. He looked over to the girl to see her ducked down in the passenger seat.

“You okay, blondie? What’s with the freak out?”

Lily looked over at him with worried eyes. “ _It’s Trish!_ ”

“I thought Fangs said she wasn’t coming? What are you hiding for?”

“ _She’s here with Archie._ ”

Sweet pea looked out the windshield of the car and low and behold, there stood Archie Andrews with his arm around the leggy redhead. They were talking with Moose Mason and Midge Klump. “Ah, shit.” Sweet Pea hoped Fangs wouldn’t bump into them. He knew it would crush him.

And just like that, Fangs’ impeccable timing struck once again. He was looking down at his bucket of popcorn, tossing a few pieces into his mouth when he looked up and saw them. Archie Andrews walking with his arm around a girl. His girl. Sweet Pea watched his best friend’s face drop at the sight. He tried to sneak by the couple without going noticed, but Archie had spotted him as soon as he turned down that row of cars.

“Well, well, well. I didn’t know Southside put out their trash on Friday nights.” Trish looked up at Fangs, her eyes wide in both shock and embarrassment.

“Where are the rest of those greaseball buddies of yours?”

“Bite me, Andrews.” Fangs went to walk by the group of Northsiders.

Archie stopped in front of him, pushing on his shoulders. “What did you just say to me?” Fangs just stood there silently, glancing over at Trish. Her head hung low in shame.

“You touch me again, I’ll knock your lights out.”

“You know, you’ve got some nerve showing up on the Northside alone. In  _MY_  territory, talking to me like that.”

Trish caressed Archie’s arm, nuzzling up against his side. “Archie cut it out, just let him go…He’s not worth it.” Fangs’ face fell into a deep scowl. He knew she was only doing and saying those things to diffuse the situation, but he’s be lying if it didn’t sting like hell to see her like that with Archie.

Archie wrapped his arm around Trish’s shoulders as he held eye contact with Fangs, and started to walk away.

Fangs stood there for a second before walking back to sit on the hood of his car, placing his bucket of popcorn next to him. He ran a hand over his face before taking out a cigarette and bringing it to his lips.

“You should go talk to him, Pea.” Sweet Pea looked over at Lily, he knew she was right. He let out a deep sigh before he opened the door and walked over to Fangs, leaning against the car.

“You got a smoke I can bum off you?”

Fangs nodded silently, reaching in his pocket and pulling out the pack, offering it to Sweet Pea. “You know, I just don’t get it man.” Sweet Pea slid out a cig from the carton, lighting it and taking a long drag.

“I take her out, I treat her like gold, make her laugh. I practically worship at her feet.” Fangs took a puff off his cigarette. “And at the end of the day, she goes right back to _him_.” He said with blatant disgust.

“He treats her like shit. I watch that jerk-off flirt with other girls, taking them out.” Sweet Pea shook his head and Fangs looked over at him, “He hits her, SP. I’ve seen the bruises, she’s got marks all over her body. She tries to tell me she’s just clumsy.” Fangs scoffed. “But I know it’s him. It’s that jock prick, Andrews. I want to beat him to a bloody pulp, but I know she’d never forgive me.” Fangs took another drag from his cigarette. “SP, what the hell do I do?”

“I don’t know, I mean…maybe you should just let her go?”

“You know I can’t do that, I think I love her. I  _know_  I love her. But how do I get her to choose me over him?”

“Have you told her?”

“Told her what?”

“You just said that you love her. Have you told her that?”

“Nah, man. It’s a waste.”

“I think you should tell her.” Fangs blew out smoke into the cool air.

“I’ll think about it. Thanks SP.” He threw the but of his cigarette to the ground, SP followed suit. “I’m getting the fuck out of here, this movie sucks.”

**

Sweet Pea and Lily sat and watched the rest of the movie before they hit the road. The mood was sort of ruined by the whole Archie and Fangs thing. Sweet Pea felt sorry for Fangs, he was in a real tough situation. The only thing Fangs ever wanted to talk about was how wonderful Trish was. Sweet Pea found it borderline sickening. But he could tell that his best friend was happy, and that made Sweet Pea happy. He was very protective of Fangs, even when they were kids. He was like an annoying little brother to him.

“I feel horrible for Fangs. Did you see the way Archie was talking to him? Why I’d like to give that pompous… _jerk_  a piece of my mind!”

Sweet Pea chuckled. “Got a little bit of fire in you, darlin’.”

“I just wish Trish would wake up and kick Archie to the curb.” Lily let out a frustrated sigh.

They pulled up just before Lily’s house, Sweet Pea got out of the car and opened the car door for her. She climbed out of the car and Sweet Pea closed the door behind her. He leaned against the side of the Ford De Luxe, Lily standing between his legs.

“Sorry our date kinda got ruined.”

“It wasn’t ruined, Pea.” He smiled at the nickname. “I still had a nice time with you.”

“ _Nice time._ ” He said to himself. “So does that mean I earned a second date?” Lily smiled up at him, biting her lip.

“Maybe even a third.” She got on her toes and pecked him on the lips. He rested his hands on her hips. He wasn’t ready for her to leave just yet.

He brushed her blonde waves back behind her shoulder. “When can I see you again?”

“School starts next week, so I won’t be around much during the week.”

“What do you have a boyfriend Monday through Friday that you don’t want me to know about?” He teased. She shook his head at him, letting out a small chuckle. “That’s alright, I’ve got some shit I’ve gotta work out this week. Serpent stuff.”

Lily nodded her head. She wanted to ask exactly what this “Serpent stuff” entailed, but decided not to push it. “Well, you know where to find me.” She leaned up to give him a chaste kiss on the lips, her hand momentarily rested on his chest. “Goodnight, Sweet Pea.”

She sauntered toward her house and turned when she reached the door to wave goodbye. He waved back, throwing a wink her way before he climbed back into his car and drove away.

**

Sweet Pea walked into the Wyrm and walked over to the bar. Fangs was passed out drunk in his barstool with a line of empties in front of him.

“He came in about an hour or two ago, he got completely loaded and passed out. That Northsider really did a number on him.” Toni was cleaning up the rest of the bar, wiping down the counter around Fangs and his empty beer bottles.

Toni popped off the cap to a beer and handed it over to Sweet Pea. “Yeah, sure looks like it. Poor bastard’s in love.” He said before taking a swig from the bottle.

Toni raised an eyebrow at Sweet Pea before shaking her head in disbelief. “I guess that’s what he gets for getting involved with a Northside girl.”

Sweet Pea let out a snicker.

“Speaking of Northside girls….How are things going with Little Miss Sunshine?”

Sweet Pea downed another large gulp of beer before answering. “Good.”

“Good? That’s all I get?”

Sweet Pea shrugged his shoulders, his eyes darting around the room for a distraction.

Toni stopped to look at him, she could tell he didn’t want to talk about her. There could only be one reason why. “ _Oh my god.”_

Sweet Pea looked back to Toni, who stood there with a wide, knowing grin that stretched across her face. “What?”

Toni lightly shook her head, “You like her. You  _really_  like her.”

“Oh cut the gas, Toni. She’s a nice girl, fun to be around,  _really cute._ But that’s it. That’s where it ends.”

“I think you’re afraid.”

“Am not.”

“You so are! Sweet Pea, she obviously likes you if she voluntarily hangs around your stubborn ass!”

Sweet Pea rolled his eyes, finishing his beer.

“I say, go for it! See where it goes.”

“It would never work, we’re from two completely different sides of the tracks. It’s bad news, T.”

“Well I think you should give it a try. I think this could be good for you.”

Sweet Pea groaned. “What are you my mother?” Sweet Pea stood up from his seat at the bar, throwing a couple bucks on the counter. “Can you make sure he gets home safe? I’ve gotta get to bed. These weekly late night runs are killing me.”

“You’re still doing those moves for the Ghoulies?”

“It’s the only way we can pay them back, it’s not like we’ve got the money upfront. We could’ve been all paid off by now if I didn’t-”

“ _Sweet Pea_. It wasn’t your fault and you know it. Just be careful out there. There’s a lot of tension in this town.”

“Always am.”


	5. Tears On My Pillow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mild Sexual Content

Chapter Five: Tears On My Pillow

Summer quickly faded into the fall and school was in full swing. Lily was somewhat thankful for the start of the new school year. She had plenty of things to occupy her time, there was homework to be completed and tests to be taken. Although, her mind would often wander to thoughts that weren’t exactly school related, like Sweet Pea. She hadn’t seen or heard from him since the night of their date to the drive in. She figured he was just busy with the Serpents, but she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t disappointed that he hadn’t so much as called.

Trish was over, getting ready to go see Fangs, it was the first she had seen of her in awhile.

“I take it everything worked out between you two? He seemed really upset that night at the drive in.”

“We talked.”

“…and?”

“And…He told me he loved me.” I guess he had listened to Sweet Pea’s advice after all.

“Did you say it back…?”

“I did.” Trish broke into a bright smile.

“That’s fantastic, Trish! So, what about Archie?”

Her face immediately dropped. “What about Archie?”

“Oh, Trish you can’t be serious…You can’t keep seeing them both. Someone’s going to end up hurt.”

“I know what I’m doing, Lily.”

Lily took a deep breath and chose her words carefully. “Are you afraid of what Archie might do if you call it off with him?”

Trish scoffed, an unconvincing look of confidence on her face. “He won’t do anything to me.”

“Trish I’ve seen what he’s done when he merely thought that you were-“

“Lily, drop this. And stop frowning, you’ll get premature wrinkles.”

Lily sighed at her.

“I’ll be fine, I’m a big girl. I just need a few more weeks until Archie messes up again and then I’ll be free.”

“…You’re waiting for him to cheat on you so you can break up with him?”

“Sure! That way there’s no blame put on me, and he can’t get upset with me because it will be his own fault. It’s fool proof!”

“Trish. You can’t be serious…”

“Don’t patronize me, I’m a woman with a plan. She said decidedly. “Speaking of plans, Fangs and I are going to some party by Sweetwater River tonight. You should come! I presume Sweet Pea has already invited you-”

She felt her heart sink a little bit. “Actually no.”

“No?”

“I haven’t seen him since our that night at the drive in. He hasn’t so much as called.”

“Did the date not go well?”

“I had thought it was great. We went to Pop’s, we watched the movie at the drive in, we kissed…”

“Which led to…”

“Trish!”

“Oh come on, how can you possibly resist him? He’s got that dangerous look in his eye. Talk of the town is that he’s very gratifying. Hell, if I hadn’t met Fangs-“

“Sweet Pea is…very attractive. But he’s far more experienced than I am, which he said he understood but I just don’t want to make a fool of myself. Not that it matters anymore. He has clearly lost interest.”

 

“Well we won’t have that, will we?”

“Its fine, Trish. I don’t know what I expected.”

“It is totally not fine, Lily.”

“I’m just not the type of girl that guy’s like Sweet Pea go after.”

“But he did go after you…”

“Yeah, and then suddenly ran for the nearest exit sign!”

“He’s probably just nervous.”

“You know, Trish. He doesn’t really seem like the type of guy that gets “nervous.”

“Oh come on Lily. He’s just a guy. A guy that to the best of my knowledge has never pursued anything beyond hookups. Sweet Pea probably has no idea what he’s supposed to be doing.”

“You may be right, but that’s not an excuse to completely fall off the map for weeks with no explanation. I feel so stupid! I never should have let my guard down.”

Trish’s eyes softened, she pulled Lily into a tight hug. “If you want, I can always tell Fangs we’re just gonna have a girls night in. My poor Lily-pad is having her first heartbreak.”

“No, it’s okay. I want you to go have fun, I don’t mean to bring you down. I’ll be fine.”

“Alright, well I hate to leave you in such a state but Fangs should be here soon.” She walked over to the window, propping it open.

Lily lay back on her bed, taking a deep breath. Another night alone, moping around her room. Her mind would often drift to the few nights she had gotten to see Sweet Pea. She missed the way his lips would curl up into a smirk, and the way he caressed her skin. Gosh. She hadn’t even known this guy for that long, so why was this eating her alive? How much longer could she possibly sit around and do this?

“You know what, Trish? I changed my mind, I’m coming with you guys.”

**

Lily had never been to Sweetwater Forest at night. Her father warned her of the “hoodlums and sinners” from the Southside that were out hiding in the woods preying on the innocent. From the sound of it, you’d think there were sacrificial rituals being performed out there. In reality, it was just a hangout for the young Serpents where they would drink and socialize around a bonfire. Lily followed Fangs and Trish through a discreet trail tucked away in the woods. The trees towered over their heads, umbrellas of brightly covered leaves indicating the shift into autumn. Lily could barely make out the bright flames through the trees as they came closer to the party. Serpents gathered around the fire, some sitting on the chopped down tree trunks while others leaned against the trees that still stood. 

Fangs and Trish greeted some of his buddies that stood by the fire. Lily scanned the area surrounding the fire, no sign of Sweet Pea. Perhaps he actually was busy. She felt a slight sense of relief, at least he hadn’t just been avoiding her. She found an empty spot on one of the fallen trees surrounding the fire, took out her handkerchief from her purse and lay it down before taking a seat. The young Serpent that was sitting next to her laughed. “Can’t say I’ve seen you around before.” Lily turned to him, he was a good looking young man with short brown hair. “I’m not usually around.” 

He looked her up and down. “Never would have guessed.” He joked. He reached down beside him and offered Lily a bottle of beer. “Care to indulge?”

Lily waited a beat. “No thank you…sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

The Serpent offered her a smile. “Slash.”

“Right, Slash. You all seem to have such unique names… I’m Lily.”

“Nice to meet you. Dare I ask what brings you around here? No offense, but you seem out of place.”

“Well, actually I came looking for-“ Lily lost her train of thought at the sight of Sweet Pea stumbling out of the darkness of the forest. He was laughing with his arm around the waist of some dark haired girl. Her breath caught in her throat and her heart sank into her stomach.

She made eye contact with Sweet Pea as he approached the fire. His eyes softened, while hers hardened. 

“Lily?”

Lily rose from the stump she was sitting on with Slash and stood with her arms crossed. 

“Looks like you’re really busy. I guess this explains why I haven’t heard from you.”

Everyone’s eyes were on Lily. Including Fangs and Trish who was shaking her head at Sweet Pea.

“Oh come on, Lily don’t have a cow.”

“Don’t have a cow? You’ve been avoiding me for weeks with no explanation Sweet Pea!”

The dark haired girl hanging off of Sweet Pea laughed. “Looks like little miss goody two shoes is having a temper tantrum.”

Lily turned to the girl and threw a punch, sending her back. Lily’s eyes widened when the girl bounced right back up and lunged after her, Slash jumped up and grabbed the girl by her arms. “Lily, I would run if I were you.” Lily looked at Sweet Pea one last time before booking it into the woods. She ran as fast as she could out of the woods and into the parking lot. She leaned against the closest car she could find, trying to catch her breath. She heard some rustling from the woods and her head shot up in fear. She knew if that girl was coming after her she didn’t have enough energy to run away. 

Luckily, it was just Trish and Fangs. 

“Lil’ are you alright?”

“I’m fine, can we just please go?”

Lily walked over to Fangs’ car and opened the door to the backseat.

Trish and Fangs shared a look.

“Trish do we have to go? We just got here..” Fangs whined. 

Trish sighed and shot him a look. 

Fangs groaned. “Okay, fine.”

The car ride was completely silent, save for the radio.

Lily watched the pine trees zoom by as they sped down the road. She felt defeated. She fiddled with her necklace. The one time she let her guard down, the one time she believed someone really liked her. She tried to fight back the tears that threatened to spill over. She felt a cool tear roll down her cheek, followed by another. Silently she let the tears fall down her face. She felt so naive. To think that a guy like him would actually want to be with a boring northsider like her.

“Lily?” Fangs glanced at her in the rearview mirror. Lily looked up.

“Nice punch.” He said, smiling. Lily forced a small smile through her tears.

**  
As the days passed by, Lily did her best to keep herself busy. When she wasn’t in school or working on homework, she was at dance class. When she wasn’t at dance class, she was at bible study . Life seemed to have resumed it’s normalcy.

A few weeks passed, it was late September. 

Lily sat down in her seat for chemistry class, her usual lab partner had been out with the flu all week. Mr. Beaker presented the weekly project to the class. 

“Lily, since your usual lab partner, Mr. Doily is absent today I’m going to pair you up with Reggie who also doesn’t have a partner.”

She nodded her head and glanced over at Reggie, who was on his way over to take the seat next to hers. He had a cast on his left arm with various signatures and doodles from his friends. 

“Hey.”

“Hi.” Lily gave him a polite smile. “So, I figured we could split up the reading, we could both take notes and then compare once we’re done.

Reggie chuckled. “Well that sounds like a great idea, but unfortunately I’m left handed.” He lifted up his casted arm.”

“Oh-uh. I’m sorry. I guess that won’t work after all.”

“That’s quite alright.”

“I guess I will be the notetaker.” Lily and reggie both flipped open their books looking for the right page.

Lily glanced over at his arm. “So…how did that happen to you anyway? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Sprained it during a game. I’m hoping it’ll be healed in time for the homecoming game next week.”

“Oh right, I forgot that’s coming up soon. Well I hope everything heals up in time. From what I hear, you do the team fine.”

“I do what I can. I can’t say I’ve ever seen you at a game. I think I would’ve noticed a cute girl like yourself.” Reggie smiled at her.

Lily felt the heat rush to her cheeks, a smile threatening the corners of her mouth.

Mr. Beaker stopped by their table and cleared his throat. “I assume this chatter is related to the assignment.”

“Of course, Mr. Beaker.”

Lily went back to reading the assigned chapter, but Reggie’s gaze lingered on her. He leaned in and lowered his voice, not wanting to get scolded again.

“Hey, uh…if you’re free after school today, would you want to grab something to eat at Pop’s?”

Lily looked up from her book to see a smiling Reggie. He was very cute, and she did have some time between school and dance.

She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and returned the smile. “Yeah, that would be nice. Thank you.”

**  
Once the school day ended, Lily met Reggie in the parking lot and they headed over to Pop’s. They found a booth and placed their orders talked. The conversation was light, mainly small talk about school and sports. She had at first assumed he was just like the rest of the buffoons on the football team, but it turned out that he was very nice guy. 

“So are you planning on going to the homecoming dance?”

Lily took a sip of her vanilla shake. “Oh, I don’t know. I signed up to help decorate but..”

“I think you should go, it’s gonna be a blast.”

“I don’t know, I don’t have a date.”

Reggie shrugged his shoulders. “I’ll be your date.”

Lily nearly choked on her milkshake. “Y-You want to go with me?”

“Sure, I haven’t got a date. I think we’d have a good time.” Lily was entirely thrown off guard. 

“I-uh…” 

The bells on the front door jingled, in walked a group of leather-clad young men, led by Sweet Pea. She sunk a little in her seat, her eyes shifting around the room. She watched them pile into a corner booth on the opposite side of the restaurant. Sweet Pea’s dark eyes locked with hers.

“So whaddya say?” Her eyes snapped back to Reggie.

Sweet Pea was watching her, she could feel his eyes on her. She couldn’t let him know he made her nervous. She could hear Trish’s voice in her head. Make him realize what he’s missing. She reached across the table and placed her hand gently over Reggie’s and gave him a flirtatious grin.

“I think that would be lovely, Reggie.”

“Great, I’ll buy our tickets tomorrow!”

In the corner of her eye, she could see Sweet Pea’s eyes narrow and his jaw clench before he looked away from their table.

Lily: 1 Sweet Pea: 0.

“Hey Reggie, would you mind lending me some money for the jukebox?”

“Not at all, doll.” He reached into his pocket and dished out some coins to hand to Lily. 

She smiled and thanked him then sauntered over to the jukebox located on the opposite side of Pop’s. She had taken a few more notes from Trish’s book and swayed her hips as she made her way through the restaurant, making a point of flipping her hair as she walked by the table of Serpents silencing the table as she passed by and rounded the corner to the jukebox. She began to shuffle through the songs when she felt someone move next to her.

“Hey blondie.”

Lily didn’t look up, she just kept flipping through the music library. 

Sweet Pea sighed. “So are you ignoring me now?”

Lily raised an eyebrow. “Doesn’t feel very good, does it?”

“Look, I’m sorry. If you let me explain-“

“Any idea as to what Reggie might like to hear?” Lily looked up to him with a forced look of curiosity on her face.

Sweet Pea couldn’t help but roll his eyes at her. “Okay Lily, you can quit the theatrical bit. You got my attention.”

“Theatrical bit?”

“I mean, you can’t seriously be interested in that meat head.” Sweet Pea nudged his thumb over to where Reggie sat eating his fries. “And the way you walked by me-”

“He’s actually quite lovely if you give him a chance, there’s more to him than meets the eye.” She had once thought the same to be true of Sweet Pea.

Sweet Pea looked at her, dumbfounded. “Mantle? Reggie Mantle? The guy eats rocks.” He scoffed.

“And what makes you so special?”

Sweet Pea’s shrugged his shoulders. “Well, I don’t know. If I remember correctly, it wasn’t too long ago that you saw something in me that you liked.”

Lily threw some change into the jukebox and selected a song, “You Don’t Own Me” by Lesley Gore, before turning to look Sweet Pea in the eye. She hated how no matter how anger she felt toward him, the second she looked into his chocolate brown eyes, her heart would melt. A smirk crept up on Sweet Pea’s lips. Lily looked down to the floor and cleared her throat. “Well, I’m starting to think maybe I was blind. If you don’t mind, I’ve got a date to get back to. Goodbye, Sweet Pea.” She rushed by him before he could respond.

Sweet Pea let out a sigh and watched her blonde curls bounce with every step she took back to her booth. He shook his head. Why couldn’t he just let her go?

**  
It was the week of the big homecoming game and dance. Lily and Reggie had been hanging out more often, they would usually go to Pop’s to grab a bite to eat and work on homework together. Lily thought Reggie was a very charming young man, he was handsome and a real gentleman. When Lily told her mother that she had a date to the homecoming dance, she was thrilled. She drove them right down to the town center to pick out the perfect dress. They settled on a pale pink tea length tulle dress with a satin sash across the waist that tied into a neat bow in the back. Her mother was of course far from fond of the strapless bodice and insisted she wear a sash to cover her shoulders. “We want you looking like a decent girl, unlike that redheaded girl you spend too much time with. She’s far too fast for that age.” 

Trish was also ecstatic that Lily had found a date, she had their entire night planned out not even two minutes minutes after she told her on the phone. 

“Okay, so first we have to go to the game to cheer on the boys. Then we have got to get our hair done together, I know just the place! Oh my goodness, Lil’ this is truly going to be a night to remember!” She really was happy to go. She liked Reggie, and it seemed like he liked her too. But there was something in the back of her mind that made it difficult to feel the full excitement Trish felt.

Suddenly, Lily heard a rapping at her window, she rose from her mountain of frills and walked to her window, stretching the coiled phone cord across the room. She pulled back her curtains and nearly jumped out of her skin at the sight of Sweet Pea on the other side of the glass.

“Trish, I’ll call you back later. I’ve got to help my mom with something.”

“Oh okay, well-“

Lily hung up the phone and went to open the window with wide eyes, and stepped back so the tall Serpent could enter. He somehow managed to fit his large frame through her window and stood against the wall.

At first she was infuriated, how dare he show up like this in the middle of the night.

“Sweet Pea, what on earth are you-“ Lily examined his appearance, he looked like hell. His forehead had a large gash on his brow, and he had a nasty black eye. She came closer to him, pulling his face down into her soft hands, examining the damage. 

“What happened to you?”

“I was out running some errands with Fangs when these psycho Bulldogs came out of nowhere, tried to start shit with Fangs. So we got into it and then some kid came out with a gun, we had to get out of there. I didn’t know where else to go.”

“Was Archie there?”

Sweet Pea scoffed. “Andrews? Please. He’s too much of a candy ass to fight his own battles.”  
He reached up to slick back his hair. “Fucking Bulldogs.” She wanted to ask if Reggie was there or not but then she noticed the gashes on his hands.

“Oh my goh! Look at your hands.” She gently took his fist in her hands, the knuckles were cut and swollen. “Let’s get you into the bathroom, you don’t want this to swell anymore or to get infected.”

“Princess, you don’t have to do that. I’ve survived a lot worse. You should see what the other guys look like.”

“Well I might not survive my mother if you get blood on this carpet.” She led him over to her private bathroom that branched off of her bedroom and instructed him to sit on the edge of the pink bathtub. 

“I know I’ve got a first aid kit in here somewhere.” Sweet Pea watched Lily walk over to the bathroom closet and begin rummaging through it’s contents. He looked around the small bathroom, everything was pink and covered in frills and flowers just like her bedroom.

“Sorry, I didn’t know where else to go around here…and I’m real sorry I didn’t reach out to you before, I’d been dealing with a lot of-“

Lily poked her head out of the closet to look at him. “Serpent stuff? Otherwise known as you busy with your tongue down that girl’s throat? And lord knows where else…” She mumbled the last part.

Sweet Pea raised an eyebrow at her choice of words and shook his head. “I wasn’t doing anything with her, we were just hanging out.”

Lily gave him a pointed look. “With your arm around her?”

Sweet Pea sighed. “Look, I’m sorry I was avoiding you. I just-“

“You just what?”

Lily went over to kneel between Sweet Pea’s legs with a first aid kit in her hands. She took out some rubbing alcohol, cotton swabs, and bandage wrap.

“I just got…scared?”

“You were avoiding me because you were scared?”

“I know it sounds lame, but…I’ve just never liked a girl as much as I like you.”

Lily dabbed some rubbing alcohol on one of the cotton swabs. “You could have called.”

“Yeah, well the phone works both ways toots.” Her eyes narrowed, she took the swab dipped in rubbing alcohol and ran it across his knuckles. 

Sweet Pea winced at the sting. “God. You’re on a mean streak, blondie.”

“I don’t like to be made a fool of, Sweet Pea.” She set the cotton swab aside and began to bandage his fingers.

“I’ve gotta say, watching you knock out that girl at the bonfire was pretty hot.” He smirked.

A blush rose to her cheeks as she tightly wrapped the bandage around his fingers. 

“There, you’re all fixed up.” She sat back with her legs tucked beneath her and started to put her things back into the tin box of the first aid kit. Sweet Pea looked down at her, she wore no makeup and her hair was pulled back into a low ponytail. Lily sat there a second, looking into his dusky eyes before sitting up and bringing her lips closer to his, her eyes fluttered closed. Sweet Pea met her the rest of the way and captured her lips between his. He held her there like that for a moment before he pulled away, tucking a stray blonde curl hair behind her ear. 

“You really hurt me, Sweet Pea. I thought that you liked me.”

“I’m sorry. I do like you.”

“…But?”

“I mean, come on. Me and you? We couldn’t be more different. I’m just some greaser from the wrong side of the tracks. But you’re this sweet, beautiful girl from the Northside. I mean seriously, you’re like an angel.” 

Lily fiddled around with her necklace as she listened.

“I guess I just felt like you were too good for a guy like me. Figured it’d be best if I left you alone, let it fade out.”

“I don’t want you to leave me alone. And all of this Northside/Southside stuff? It doesn’t matter to me. I-I just want to be with you.”

Sweet Pea’s eyes softened, he swallowed hard. “And I guess I kind of messed that up, didn’t I?”

Lily paused, then shrugged her shoulders. “I didn’t say that…”

His face lit up almost instantly. “So does that mean you’re gonna give me a second chance?”

Lily tried to keep her composure, but the corners of her mouth kept threatening to lift into a grin. “Maybe I am.”

Sweet Pea’s smile stretched from ear to ear. “You won’t regret it, I promise.”

“Don’t give me a reason to.” Sweet Pea leaned down and gave her a peck on the lips.

Lily couldn’t fight the blush that rushed to her cheeks. “Alright, now that I’ve got you fixed up, you should probably go. It’s getting late and I have school tomorrow.”

“Well, uh. That’s the thing…”

“What?”

“I have a feeling those creeps are still out there looking for me…Do you mind if I stay here tonight?”

Lily instantly shook her head at the suggestion.

“Noooooo way, my father would have a cow if he knew I had a boy in here. Never mind a Serpent!”

“Oh come on, Lily. I’ll be gone before the sun rises. I’ll be as quiet as a mouse, it’ll be like I’m not even here.”

“I don’t know…”

“Are you really gonna send me out there with a gun wielding maniac on the loose? That’s not very Christian of you.” He joked.

Lily shot him a glare. “Okay fine, you can stay here. But you cannot make a sound. My parents would have me sent to a convent if they knew about this.”

“I owe you big time. Hell I’ll even sleep right here in the bathtub.”

“You don’t need to sleep in the bathtub, you can have my bed.”

Lily got up off the floor and headed into her room where Sweet Pea followed. Lily locked the door and leaned up against it, gesturing to her mattress.

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’ve done more than enough for me already. I’m not kicking you out of your own bed. I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“Are you sure? That can’t be comfortable.”

“Trust me darlin’, I’ve slept on a lot worse.”

Sweet Pea stood in the middle of her room, taking in his surroundings. Lily found it both amusing and incredibly cute seeing the tall, dark serpent standing in a sea of pink flowers and ruffles. How on earth did this happen? Lily chewed on her lip.

“At least let me put down some blankets and pillows for you.” Sweet Pea glanced back at her and shrugged before he returned to his examination of Lily’s bedroom. She walked over to her closet and pulled out some extra blankets and pillows for him to use.

“I would offer you some clothes to sleep in, but something tells me we’re not the same size.”

Sweet Pea shrugged off his jacket and as he continued examining the room. He tossed it onto the pink velvet chair that was in front of the window. 

“That’s alright, I’ll make due.” He walked by her shelf of Dance awards and trophies. He looked back at her, she was now sitting on her bed.

Lily shrugged. “I’ve done my fair share of competitions.”

“I guess so, huh?”

Next to the shelf, Lily’s homecoming dress hung from a coat hook in the wall. Sweet Pea reached out and fingered the fabric.

“What’s this for?”

Lily’s heart sank. Reggie. “That’s my dress for the homecoming dance.”

Sweet Pea looked at her. “Homecoming dance?”

She nodded her head. “It’s this Saturday.”

Sweet Pea snorted.“Let me guess, Mantle asked you to go with him?”

“…yes.”

He shook his head. “I don’t trust that guy.”

Lily sighed. “He’s really nice to me.”

“That’s exactly why I don’t trust him.” Sweet Pea started to make his bed on the floor.

Lily crossed her arms. “I think you’re jealous.”

“Jealous? Don’t make me laugh, Lily. Guys like that aren’t just “nice” for the hell of it. He’s after something.”

“Reggie isn’t like that. He’s never been anything shy of a gentleman with me.”

“If he starts to get too handsy, you let me know.”

“I think I’ll be okay.”

Sweet Pea sat down on his makeshift bed, untied his boots and tossed them to the side. Lily watched as he reached back and pulled off his white tee in one swift motion, baring his strong chest.

“You’re catching flies, sugar.”

I can’t believe this is happening right now. She opened the drawer of her bedside table and took out her rosary beads and slid off the bed and onto her knees. It wasn’t every day that Lily had a half naked gang member in her bedroom. The least she could do was pray for forgiveness.

Sweet Pea knew the bulldogs most likely weren’t out looking for him anymore, he had just wanted to buy some more time with her. He watched her as she kneeled down to pray, she wore a white satin button down pajama top with a matching set of shorts that slid up a little higher when she sat with her legs tucked beneath her. She really looked like an angel, with her golden locks pulled back behind her shoulders. Tonight he was going to have to practice some serious self control, which was always a challenge with her around.

Lily quickly said her prayers before turning off the lamp on her bedside table and getting under the covers. She quietly whispered “Goodnight, Sweet Pea.”

“Sweet dreams.”

She closed her eyes in hopes she would fall asleep. She could hear Sweet Pea rustling on the floor. Once she thought he was settled in and comfortable, he would shift again. She let out a sigh.

“Is everything alright?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah. Just having a tough time getting comfortable.”

Lily squeezed her eyes shut, she couldn’t believe the words that were about to escape her lips. 

“If you want, you can sleep with me.”

Sweet Pea paused for a beat.

“I-I mean, you can sleep in my bed.”

Sweet Pea clicked his tongue. “Are you sure?”

“Y-yeah, it’s no big deal.”

She moved over to one side of her full sized bed, making room for Sweet Pea.

She felt the mattress shift when Sweet Pea got into her bed. She closed her eyes again, trying to relax herself, but her heart was beating like crazy. 

“I don’t think the good pastor would approve of this sleeping arrangement.”

“Goodnight, Sweet Pea.”

He let out a quiet chuckle. She could feel him breathing behind her, it sent small tingles up and down her spine. She felt the warmth of his body press against hers. She felt his arm drape over her waist. They lay like that for a few moments. Lily opened her eyes when she felt Sweet Pea’s lips dance along the side of her neck until her breathing became a bit heavy. He brought his hand up to her jaw, tipping her head back and kissing up her throat. Her body pushed back against his involuntarily, earning a small groan from Sweet Pea. He turned her face to him, her emerald eyes opened. God, he looked so irresistible. Sweet Pea leaned down to capture her lips between his, his hand coming up to caress her cheek. Lily sighed into the kiss. She had missed the way his full lips felt as they moved against hers. She felt his tongue glide over her bottom lip, she opened her mouth slightly, letting her tongue gently caress and tangle with his. Lily softly moaned. Sweet Pea’s heart dropped at the sound of her. He pulled back from the kiss, both of them were breathing heavily. 

“Sweet Pea?”

“Yeah?”

“Touch me.”

Sweet Pea looked down at her and swallowed hard. Her face was flooded with a deep blush, her lips slightly parted, and her eyes yearning.

He pulled her hair back and began kissing her neck. He let his hand slowly drift from her cheek down to her arm. He pulled her closer to his body, his bare chest pressed against her back. His hand slid down her arm.

He whispered into the crook of her neck. “Show me.” Lily let out a small sigh. He was driving her crazy, she couldn’t even think clearly. She had no idea what she was doing, she just knew she wanted more.

She covered his hand with hers and let them slide up the side of her stomach beneath her shirt until they reached her underside of her breast. Sweet Pea groaned into her neck. Her skin felt so unbelievably soft and smooth. Lily slowly brought their hands up higher until she felt his the rough skin of his palm cup her breast. Lily let out a small moan. She felt him suck on her skin, sending a tingle to down between her thighs. Her heart was racing. She felt Sweet Pea’s hand make its way down her stomach until he reached the waistband of her silk bottoms, his fingers slipped just past the waistband. Lily froze up. “We should stop.”

Sweet Pea stopped what he was doing and kissed her head. “Okay.” She did want him to do more, she really did. But something kept stopping her in the back of her mind. He draped his arm around her waist once more and closed his eyes. They both lay there, letting their breath catch up with them. Lily turned to face him. She reached out and let her finger trace over the lines of his serpent tattoo on his neck. Sweet Pea half opened his eyes to look at her. 

“You’re beautiful.”

Lily averted her eyes. “Thank you.”

“I mean it. You’re beautiful.”

Lily looked up to him for a moment before she let out a nervous laugh, shaking her head. Sweet Pea looked at her, perplexed. 

“What’s so funny?”

Lily looked down, she was fidgeting with her gold cross. “I don’t know. It’s just… no one has ever said that to me before.”

“I find that hard to believe, darlin’.”

“I mean, people have called me beautiful before. Just…not the way that you do.” 

Sweet Pea cocked his head at her. “And how do I say it?”

Lily paused for a second before she answered. 

“Like you mean it.”

Sweet Pea lifted her chin up to look her in the eye. “That’s because I do mean it.” He gently pressed his lips to hers before he laid back down. Lily curled into his side, letting the sound of his breath evening out lull her to sleep.


	6. Save The Last Dance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Contains smut!!

****Chapter Six: Save The Last Dance** **

It was the day of the Riverdale High homecoming game and dance. Trish came over to Lily’s house early that so she could drop off her things before the girls headed over to the football game together. Lily hadn’t exactly spilled the beans on what happened between her and Sweet Pea that night he unexpectedly stayed the night. She wanted to wait until after she attended the dance with Reggie.

The two girls cheered on the team from the bleachers, both of them wrapped up in a blanket to shield them from the chill of the cool September air. Every so often, Archie would glance up to the bleachers and wink or wave to Trish. Trish of course smiled back at him, which made Lily feel somewhat queasy. How could she even stomach him? Lily really hoped she would be able to break free from him soon.

It was almost half time, and the Bulldogs were in the lead. She hated to admit it, but Lily was actually rather impressed with how well both Archie and Reggie were on the field. Archie had managed to scored one more touch down just before the buzzer rang, signaling half time. The crowd of students and families alike all jumped to their feet and cheered. Trish hopped out of her seat and ran over to the fence separating her from the field. Lily watched as Archie jogged over to her and gave her a big kiss. They looked like they were straight out of a movie, whispers could be heard amongst the crowd.  _“Gosh, Trish is so lucky!”_ _“They’re like the perfect couple.”_  Had Lily not known the true nature of their relationship she would have thought the same thing.

Lily heard someone whispering. “ _Hey.”_  She looked around her confused, but nobody was looking her way.

_“Down here.”_

Lily narrowed her eyes, it sounded like it was coming from underneath the bleachers.

She glanced around her, before “accidentally” dropping her clutch bag at her feet and leaned over to grab it. She looked through the opening between seat levels, her eyes widened at the sight of Sweet Pea standing below the bleachers smoking a cig.

“Hey princess.”

“Pea, what on  _earth_  are you doing down there?” She shout-whispered down to him.

Sweet Pea merely shrugged his shoulders, raising his hands up. He motioned her down. “Come down here.”

Lily sighed, picked up her purse and made her way down the bleachers. She made sure nobody was watching before she snuck underneath the bleachers and walked over to Sweet Pea. He was leaning against one of the metal supports, he tossed the butt of his cigarette to the side and let his hands rest on her hips.

“What are you doing here?”

“Same thing everyone else is doing, watching the big game.  _Go Bulldogs_.” He said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Lily rolled her eyes.

Sweet Pea reached out and caressed her cheek “I wanted to see you before the dance. Be careful tonight.”

Lily let out a sigh. “As I said before, I’ll be fine.”

Sweet Pea looked away from her, scoffing. Lily glanced around them before she leaned up and pecked his lips. “It’s just one night.” Sweet Pea’s eyes softened.

Sweet Pea shifted uncomfortably. “I want you to bring this with you.” He reached in his pocket, pulling out a small pocketknife and offering it to her.

Lily stood there, flabbergasted. Her jaw fell open. “Have you gone insane? I’m not going to carry a  _knife_. Oh my goodness, Sweet Pea. Why are you even carrying this thing around?!” She said quietly but sternly.

Sweet Pea offered it to her again, rolling his eyes. “It’s for protection. Take it, just in case.”

Lily crossed her arms, her eyes narrowed at him. “Just in case  _what_?”

“Look, I told you I don’t trust that clown.” He knew how guys like Reggie Mantle were. He knew that they only went after girls like Lily with one reason in mind. And even though Sweet Pea knew that him and Lily weren’t technically together, the idea of her going with Reggie to a dance really bugged him. It was clear as day that he was jealous, though he would never tell her. He was too proud.

Lily chewed on her lip and studied him for a second before finally letting out a sigh and snatching it out of his hand. She shook her head in disbelief and slipped the pocketknife into her purse. Sweet Pea watched her, his smirk was a dead giveaway of how proud he was of himself.

The announcer’s voice boomed from the speakers, signaling the start of the second half of the game.

Lily looked up and then back to Sweet Pea. “I’ve gotta head back to Trish, it sounds like the game is picking back up again.”

Sweet Pea reached out to hold her dainty hand in his, lightly tugging her closer to him and looking down into her emerald eyes. He raised his hand to tuck back a strand of hair behind her ear, his thumb barely grazing her cheek. He studied her features, he wondered if he would ever get over how beautiful she was.

“Promise me something?” He said it more like a demand than a question.

“What is it?”

“Save the last dance for me.”

She smiled up at him, nodding her head. “It’s all yours.” Sweet Pea grabbed her by the waist and leaned down to capture her lips. He kissed her hard, the hand that held hers now held the back of her neck, intensifying the kiss. Lily’s hands were placed on his chest, her fingers curling around the lapels of his leather serpent jacket to steady herself. She could feel his heartbeat beneath her palms, it was thumping about as fast as hers. It made her feel good that she had the same effect on him that he had on her. She felt Sweet Pea’s large hand make its way down to her bum, giving it a light squeeze. Lily pulled back with a soft giggle, glancing around to make sure nobody was watching.

“ _Pea._ ” She playfully swatted him on the chest, giggling. Sweet Pea huffed and pressed his forehead to hers.

“You drive me crazy, doll.”

Lily pulled back laughing, holding his hand.

“I’ve got to go. I’ll try to call you tonight after the dance.”

Sweet Pea nodded, reluctantly letting go of her hand. She fixed her hair and made her way out from under the bleachers.

“Make sure that bulldog keeps his paws off of you!”

Lily rolled her eyes and laughed, looking back at him once more. “Bye, Sweets.”

**

Trish and Lily went to get their hair done together after the game had ended, then they headed to Lily’s house to finish getting ready. The Bulldogs had ultimately taken the win, which Lily was thankful for. At least the boys would be in a good mood for the night.

The boys showed up about a half hour before the dance to get Lily and Trish. Both couples posed for pictures at the door. Reggie led Lily over to his friends from the football team and introduced her to them.

Lily and Reggie sat at the table with Trish and Archie chatting for a few minutes when Trish stood up and pulled Archie over to the dance floor.

“You two gonna sit there all night or are you gonna get up and dance?” Archie gestured for them to join them on the dance floor.

Truthfully, sitting at the table all night didn’t sound like a bad idea to Lily.

Reggie turned to Lily with a playful grin on his face. “Whad’ya say Lily?”

Lily stammered a bit. “I actually-“

“It’ll be fun!” Reggie stood up from his seat and gently pulled Lily from her seat and dragged her over to Archie and Trish. Lily figured she may as well do her best to have fun and danced along with the rest of the group. But no matter what, her mind kept slipping back to the night her and Sweet Pea danced together at the Wyrm. She remembered the how good it felt to have his body pressed against hers, his hands traveling up and down her body as they moved to the beat. Her thoughts drifted to the way his hands had felt against her bare skin just the other night.

A few songs later, the music slowed. Lily wanted to make a run for the bathroom as soon as she heard the song come on. But Reggie already had his arms wrapped around Lily’s waist. Lily avoided his gaze, thoughts of Sweet Pea and her slow dancing that night occupying her brain.

“You look very pretty tonight, Lily.” Reggie’s voice pulled her out of her daze. She politely smiled up at him.

“Thank you, Reggie. You clean up quite nicely yourself.”

Lily nodded. She wasn’t lying, he did look very handsome. Any girl there would have loved to have been in Lily’s shoes that night. And Lily also would have loved for any other girl to have been in her shoes.

“Are you having a nice time tonight?”

“Yes, it’s been lovely so far. Thank you again for inviting me.”

Reggie grinned at her, pulling her in a little closer to him. “There’s no-one else I’d rather be with. Just between you and me, I think I’ve got the best looking date in the whole place.” He said with a simper of pride.

“You know, there’s this tradition we have after the homecoming dance. We all head over to Cheryl Blossom’s house for a little bash. I was hoping you would join me…”

Lily’s eyes widened. She could practically see the flashing red lights in her mind signaling this party was bad news.

“I appreciate the invitation, Reggie. I really do. But my folks are sort of strict on curfew.”

Reggie looked disappointed. “You’re sure you can’t make it?”

“Yeah, I’d love to go.” A blatant lie. “There’s no way my parents would go for it.”

“Ain’t that a bite…” He looked like he was thinking. “How about this? I’ll bring you to Pop’s for a milkshake after the dance gets out.”

Lily sighed. “I suppose that would be okay.”

“Great.” The smile instantly returned to his face.

The song came to an end and Lily excused herself to the bathroom to freshen up. She really wasn’t interested in going to Pop’s with Reggie, but she figured it was the least she could agree to since she declined the party invitation.

As she rounded the corner coming back from the restroom, she could hear a group of guys talking back and forth. It sounded like Reggie and some of the other guys from the football team.

_“So did you convince her to come to Cheryl’s?”_

_“She’s not coming, she says she has a strict curfew.”_

_“Man, I told you there’s was no way in hell that you could nail her by the end of the night. She’s a total prude.”_

Reggie sighed.  _“I knew I should’ve just picked an easy girl, now I’m gonna be down 20 bucks!”_

Chuck let out a hearty laugh.  _“Look’s like Im 20 bucks richer! That’s what you get for trying to show off, Mantle. You can kiss that crisp Mr. Jackson goodbye!”_

_“Not yet, Chuck. I asked her out to Pop’s after the dance, if I really play my cards right I could have her moaning in my backseat in the parking lot._

Lily gasped.  _It was all a bet?_ She rounded the corner and stormed over to the group of Bulldogs.

Reggie forced a smile upon seeing her. “Lily, there you are-“

Lily slapped him across the face, sending him stumbling back out of shock. “Even if we were the last two people on earth I would not  _once_  find myself anywhere near the backseat of your car, Reggie. You disgusting pig!” She blew right past him before he could say anything, leaving the group of Bulldogs with their jaws to the floor. Lily pushed through the doors of the gymnasium and took a seat on the cold concrete steps, taking in a deep breath of crisp autumn air. She was utterly infuriated, how  _dare_  that Reggie Mantle treat her as if she was some conquest. She felt a bit angry at herself for believing that he was any different from the rest of his jock friends. She couldn’t understand what was wrong with those boys, everything was a competition for them and they didn’t care who they hurt in the process.

Lily’s head shot up at the deep voice. Sweet Pea was walking across the parking lot.

“How do you do it, Sweet Pea?” He came over to stand before her, looking down at her with a confused look.

“Do what?”

“How do you manage to just show upwherever I am?”

“I was in the neighborhood.”

She gave him a pressing look.

“Oh, so you  _aren’t_  here to check on me or anything…”

“Definitely not.” Sweet Pea smirked.

“Hmm. Well, I’m doing just fine.”

Sweet Pea pulled an amused expression and crossed his arms. “Is that so?”

She nodded her head and forced a smile, trying her best not to crack under his stare.

“If it’s going so well…why are you out here?”

Lily let her smile fade. “Fine. It’s not going so well.”

“What happened?”

“It’s just-it’s Reggie and his low-life friends.”

Sweet Pea tensed up. “What did he do to you? Did he hurt you? I swear to god I’ll kill that-“

“No, no! He didn’t hurt me.” Sweet Pea relaxed a bit but his fists remained clenched. “I overheard him talking with Chuck, I guess they had a bet going…”

Sweet Pea’s brow furrowed. “A bet?”

“They bet on whether or not Reggie could get me to sleep with him by the end of the night…”

“I’m going to kill him.” Sweet Pea made a move for the entrance, but Lily jumped up in front of him to block him from the door and placed a hand on his chest.

“Sweet Pea,  _don’t_.”

“Fuck that, Lily! Someone has to put that asshole in his place, and I’m more than willing to volunteer.” He made a move to go around her and she stepped in front of him again.

“I took care of it.” Sweet Pea looked at her for a second.

“You took care of it?”

“I backhanded him across the face.”

Sweet Pea’s eyes bugged out of his head. “You did?” She nodded her head yes.

Sweet Pea let out a deep breath and shook his head, a warm rumble of laughter escaping him. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you lately, but I think I like it.” He lifted her chin and pulled her into a kiss.

“Come on, let’s get the hell out of here.”

**

“I wish I had just listened to you in the first place, I cannot  _believe_  I trusted him.”

“Really? I can.”

Lily shot him Sweet Pea a look. “And what exactly is that supposed to mean?”

“I just mean that you’re a trusting person. It’s your best and worst trait.”

“I guess you’re right. I really do want to trust people, but it seems like every time I do it backfires on me.”

“I know what you mean.”

“What do you think your best and worst trait would be?”

Sweet Pea shrugged. “I don’t know, you tell me.”

Lily looked at him, carefully thinking about it. “I think you’re too proud.”

“Too proud?” Sweet Pea chuckled.

“Yes. You’re very confident, very sure of yourself but I think that gets in the way of showing others how you really feel.”

Lily turned to look out the window and smiled to herself, proud of her assessment.

“You better not be running all over town giving away my secrets, darlin’. I’ve got a reputation to keep up.”

Lily couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s exactly what I was talking about.”

They pulled into the empty lot of Sweetwater Forest and Sweet Pea put the car in park.

Lily watched with curious eyes as Sweet Pea got out of the car and ran over to her side of the black Ford de Luxe and opened the door for her. He took her hand and and pulled her from the passenger seat into the cool night air. “Come on.”

He led her over to stand next to the car. Lily watched him lean into the drivers side of the car and began flipping through the radio until he finally settled on Bobby Helms’ “My Special Angel” and turned up the volume so she could hear it outside. Sweet Pea slowly walked back over to where Lily stood and offered her his hand.

“I believe I was promised the last dance?”

She couldn’t help but smile, his eyes were warm and playful. She reached out and accepted his hand, he twirled her around and pulled her close, letting his other hand rest on her waist. The two of them swayed in the darkness as the music softly played from the car speakers.

Lily rested her head against his warm chest, savoring the moment. Sweet Pea pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her head. The faint scent of vanilla filled his senses.

Lily pulled back to look up at him. “Sweet Pea, what are we doing?”

“Last I checked, we’re dancing.”

“No, I mean  _what are we doing?_ What is this?”

She watched the gears begin to turn in his mind as he came to understand what she meant. “I have no idea.”

That wasn’t exactly what she had been hoping to hear. “Okay.” She started to chew on her lip.

“Shit. I didn’t mean it like that.” He brought his hand up to her chin, lifting her head back up to look at him. “I’ve just never been in a relationship before.”

“Neither have I.”

“I guess that’s one thing we have in common, then.”

Lily gave him a small smile.

“You really want to try this? You want to be my girl?”

Lily’s eyes were gleaming in adoration. “I’ve always been your girl, Pea.”

Sweet Pea brought her in closer and let his lips crash down on hers. Lily pressed into him, standing on the tip of her toes and deepening the kiss. She brought her hand up to the back of his head, letting her fingers curl into his dark locks. Sweet Pea let his hand travel to her bottom, giving it a squeeze before he lifted her up and walked her over to the car so her back was pressed against the cool metal. She tightly wrapped her legs around him and felt his body push into hers, his arousal pressed against her. Her hips involuntarily thrusted up, grinding her hips against him, making Sweet Pea groan against her lips. He pulled back first, his eyes were dark and full of desire. Lily sighed his name as Sweet Pea began kissing and sucking on the soft skin of her neck, sending tingles all the way down her body. That aching sensation between her thighs returned. “ _Pea?_ ” He pulled back to look at her, both of them out of breath. Lily lifted her hand to caress his strong jawline. She looked up at him through her dark lashes.

“Should we get in the car?”

He let her down and opened the door to the backseat, climbing in after her and picking up right where they left off. Their lips passionately clashed and collided. Their hands explored each other’s bodies. Sweet Pea’s let his hands venture higher and higher up her leg, his fingers gently pushing up the fabric of her dress up her thigh. He gently caressed her smooth skin and lifted her leg so it was resting on top of his.

He pulled back to whisper in her ear. “Tell me if you want me to stop.”

Lily nodded her head in anticipation. He kissed his way down her neck. Lily’s fingers sank into his dark curls as he kissed up and down her neck, teasing the sensitive skin. He moved his hand further up until his fingers felt the lace trim of her panties. Lily let out a sigh, her fingers tightly tangled in his hair. He felt her hips jerk forward slightly into his hand.

“Is this okay?” Sweet Pea let his finger lightly run over her core through the fabric of her panties. Lily gasped at the sensation, her eyes snapping shut. It was like music to his ears. He wanted to hear more.

He whispered in her ear softly, “I want to make you feel good baby.” Lily looked up at him with hazy eyes and nodded again, giving him the go-ahead. He ran his finger over her once again and she let out another moan. Sweet Pea could feel dampness through the fabric of her panties.

“You’re so beautiful.” He whispered, her hips began bucking in search of his hand. He pushed her panties to the side and ran his finger along her wet slit up and down before letting a finger slowly sink into her heat, earning him a low moan. Lily’s eyes were glued to his hand, watching it disappear beneath her dress. He slowly dragged his finger out, adding a second before he slowly sank back into her opening. He began pumping his fingers in and out of her, slowly. “T-that feels really…good.”  “Yeah?” Lily nodded her head and sighed. “What about when I do this…” Sweet Pea pulled his fingers out of her opening, gathering some of her wetness on his fingers and gliding up to the small pearl at the top. Lily gasped at the contact, shocked by the amount of pleasure such a subtle touch could bring. “Does that feel good?” Sweet Pea began gently rubbing circles over her clit. “ _Sweet_   _Pea_.” He watched as she let her her head fall back against the leather seat, her breath growing jagged. Her fingers dug into his shoulders. Seeing her like that, panting and moaning his name in pure bliss made him harden. She felt the aching feeling deep in her abdomen intensifying, a warmth spreading throughout her body. “I-I don’t know what’s happening.” Lily managed to choke out. Sweet Pea could feel her begin to tighten around his fingers as he pumped them in and out of her, his thumb gently rubbing against her most sensitive spot. He could tell she was close. “It’s okay baby, just let it happen. Trust me.” His voice was rough but comforting. Lily’s heart was beating heavily against her chest, her breath soon came in short gasps. The pleasure between her thighs was rising, she could feel herself tightening around his fingers as they continued to move inside of her. Sweet Pea had butterflies in his stomach as he watched her come undone. Her face flushed pink, her full lips parted, emerald green eyes bore into his until she arched her back, meeting his thrusts. Lily threw her head back as the pleasure overtook her. Her nails dug into the leather of his jacket as she let out a string of whimpers and moans as she finally reached her peak.

Sweet Pea slowed his movements as she came down from her high.

“You are so damn beautiful. Holy shit.”

Lily lifted her head back up to look at Sweet Pea, who sat there with a look of complete awe. “That was…oh my goodness.” She went to cover her face in embarrassment, but Sweet Pea caught them in his own.

“Don’t hide from me.”

“I’m sorry, I’m just kind of embarrassed.”

Sweet Pea brought her hands up to his lips and pressed a gentle kiss to them. “Nothing to be embarrassed about. I think that was one of the sexiest things I’ve ever seen.”

Lily shyly smiled at him. She closed her eyes and attempted to catch her breath. Sweet Pea found it painfully cute how coy she became after what had just happened.

“Did you like it?”

“Yes, thank you. It was…thank you.” Lily looked down to Sweet Pea’s lap. “Should I-“

“Thanks doll, but it’s past midnight and I’ve gotta get you home. Surprised the car hasn’t turned into a pumpkin yet.”

**

Sweet Pea dropped her off at home, they kissed each other goodbye and he watched her quietly enter her house. Sweet Pea smiled to himself, playing over the events of the night in his head. He was quickly learning that the good little Northside girl had a bit of a bad side to her. And in turn, she had a real talent of making him weak. Whether she was aware of it or not, it still scared the hell out of him. He was about to pass by Pop’s when someone caught his eye, Reggie Mantle was walking out to his car. Against his better judgement, Sweet Pea pulled into the otherwise empty parking lot. He reached into his glove compartment and pulled out his pair of brass knuckles, letting his fingers curl around the cool metal.

Nobody messed with Pea’s girl.

 

 


	7. Chapter Seven: Devil or Angel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She gently tugged on the leather of his belt. “Maybe I’m not as good as everyone thinks…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (sexual content/smut)

****Chapter Seven: Devil or Angel** **

 

The Monday following homecoming, Lily walked into chemistry class and sat down in her usual spot. She had prayed and prayed Reggie would be absent from class that day. She couldn’t yet face him. When she finally did see him, her breath caught in her throat. He was beat up,  _bad_. His face was covered in black and blue, his bottom lip split. He walked right past her and took a seat in the back of the classroom. Luckily his usual lab partner had returned, as did hers. She wondered what could have happened to him. She knew it wasn’t from the football game, he had looked fine at the dance. Then her mind flashed to the look on Sweet Pea’s face when she told him what had happened at the dance. She glanced back at Reggie once more with wide eyes.

**

Lily was in the middle of eating her lunch when another lunch tray was slammed down on the table in front of her.

“Hi, Trish.”

“Where on earth did you run off to during the dance Saturday? I tried phoning you when I got home but when your mother answered the phone I hung up. I know how much she hates me, I swear I can see it in her eyes.”

Lily sighed, it was the first time she had seen Trish since the homecoming dance and she was of course locked and loaded with a round of questions. She quickly filled her in about what had happened with Reggie at the dance.

“You slapped Reggie!?”

“I’ll admit it was a knee-jerk reaction, but-“

“I only wish I had done it myself. I swear if Archie knew anything about this…wait…where were you the rest of the night?”

Lily began fiddling with her food, her eyes fixated on her tray. “Well, that’s where it gets interesting. I went outside to clear my mind…and Sweet Pea was waiting in the parking lot.”

Trish’s eyebrows arched. “ _Sweet Pea_?!” She said a little too loudly. Lily’s eyes widened and pressed a finger to her friend’s lips. Trish relaxed a bit and lowered her voice, leaning in closer to Lily. “ _Sweet Pea_? What was he doing there?”

“He was waiting for me.”

Her brows knitted together in confusion. “How did he even know you would be there? I thought it was over between you two?”

“It’s sort of a long story, I promise I’ll fill you in soon.”

“You’d better! Here I was, planning nearly one hundred different ways of ridding him of his manhood for breaking your heart. Little did I know, you’ve been off galavanting together the whole time? Lily, you have  _got_  to tell me these things! Sorry, I’m talking too much. Please continue.” She dug into her lunch as she listened.

“He drove us to Sweetwater forest and we slow danced beneath the stars, Trish it was so romantic! And then…“

Trish stopped chewing on her sandwich, she was practically on the edge of her seat waiting in anticipation. “And  _then_ …?”

Lily lowered her voice. “He asked me to go steady.” Lily couldn’t hide her bright smile thinking about that night.

“You and Sweet Pea _?_ Lil’! I’m so happy for you!” She reached across the table and shook Lily’s hand in excitement.

“ _I know_ , it’s sort of left me dizzy. It all happened so quickly. We were dancing one second and kissing the next and then…well…” Lily’s cheeks started to get hot, not knowing how to tell Trish.

Trish’s mouth dropped to the floor. “You did  _not_ …you and SP-”

“No! No, we didn’t do  _that_. I mean, we did  _other_  things…”

“Lilian Greene, you little trollop! Tell me  _more,_  and for the love of god use descriptive language!”

Before Lily could say anything further, the school bell rang signaling the end of lunch.

Trish groaned in annoyance. “You’ve been saved by the bell this time, but next time you won’t be so lucky. Gosh, I don’t know how I’m going to make it through the day without knowing. The anticipation alone is going to slay me!”

Lily rolled her eyes and rose from the table. “Come on, we’re going to be late.”

**

Later that week, Lily was walking to the library from her dance class. She usually went to the library on the edge of Southside since it was closer to the studio. She had just reached the front of the small brick building when she heard the rumbling of motorcycles. She turned to watch a group of Serpents pulled into the gas station across the street, Sweet Pea included. He took off his helmet and shook out his sable hair, he smiled when he saw her standing across the street. She wore a lavender poodle skirt with a white sweater and her saddle shoes. She had a small dance bag hanging from one shoulder. Sweet Pea dismounted his bike and crossed over to her, a pleasant smile on his face.

“You’re a long way from Kansas, Dorothy.”

“I was just on my way to the library, I need to return some books.”

“I see.”

He leaned down to kiss her gently on the lips, his arms loosely wrapped around her waist. She pulled back and absentmindedly toyed with the silver dog tags that hung around his neck, a more serious look washed over her features.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.” He said with a shrug. He reached out to finger the light purple ribbon that was neatly fastened around her ponytail.

“You wouldn’t happen to know anything about what happened to Reggie after the dance, would you?”

Sweet Pea pretended to search his memory, tilting his head side to side. “Nope. Can’t say I do.”

She knew he was lying, she crossed her arms across her chest.

“…Sweet Pea.”

“ _What_? The guys been cruisin’ for a bruisin’. He’s lucky all I did was rough him up a bit.”

Lily’s eyes widened. “Rough him up a bit? He’s covered in black and blues…”

“Good.” He shrugged. “Nobody messes with you, not if I have any say.”

Lily shook her head at him, disapprovingly. “You’re bad news, SP.”

“Maybe you’re just too  _good_.” He said with a smirk, her smile faltered.

“I should probably get going, it’s getting dark.”

“You wanna hang later?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“Cool. I’ll be over to get you in a couple hours. Hurry home, never know when a big scary Serpent might show up.” He winked and pressed a light kiss to her lips before jogging back over to his friends.

**

Lily and her parents sat down at the table for supper, Mrs. Greene had made her famous meatloaf right on time for her husband’s return from work. They held hands and said grace before filling up their plates.

“Did you hear about that poor Mantle boy? Got himself a beating in Pop’s parking lot Saturday night.”

Lily’s eyes shot up at her father’s mention of Reggie.

“Mantle…Lily, wasn’t that the boy you went to the homecoming dance with?”

Lily nodded her head. “Yes, Reggie.”

“He seems like a very nice boy, comes from a good family too. That’s really too bad. I think it would make a good impression if you went over to check on him sometime, Lilian.”

“Yeah, maybe.”  _When hell freezes over,_ she told herself.

“I’ll bet you it was one of those Southside boys again.” Lily’s gaze lowered to her food, she pushed the meat around on her plate with her fork. “Just when you think those hellions couldn’t get any worse.”

If only her father knew she had been spending her nights in the arms of one of those so-called “hellions”. And that in fact it was the boys on the Northside that she needed to watch out for. She could only imagine the look on George Greene’s face if he found out his perfect little girl had been sneaking around with a big bad Serpent.

“They can’t all be bad, daddy.”

Both of her parents paused their movements and cast an eye at her with raised brows.

“I wish I could agree with you, sweetheart. But these are very bad, very dangerous people.

“I just mean that maybe they have their reasons.”

“And what reasons would they have for beating up an innocent boy?”

_Innocent boy? What a joke._

Lily chewed on her bottom lip, she wanted to tell them the truth about Reggie to prove her point. Her father looked at her expectantly. An uncomfortable silence was held amongst the three of them until her mother spoke up.

“We really shouldn’t have brought up such serious talk at the dinner table. Darling, how was work today?”

Mr. Greene’s gaze lingered on his daughter a second longer before he ran through his day with his wife. If there was one thing Lily let out a breath and continued eating her dinner mostly in silence, only responding when directly spoken to. She wished more than anything that she could tell them what had happened.

After dinner, Lily helped her mother clear the table before she went to sit in the living room with her father. Sometimes they would sit in silence as they both read, other times he would have her read scripture, sometimes they would talk. Tonight was a quiet reading night.

“Hey Lily-pad?”

She looked up from her book. “Yes, daddy?”

“When I tell you to stay away from the Southside, its because I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you. I know you’re a smart good girl, but even good people can find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“I understand, daddy. I don’t know why I said that stuff at dinner, it was silly.”

“It’s not silly, you see the good in people.”

“I like to believe everyone has a bit of good in them.”

Mr. Greene gave his daughter a polite smile before returning to his book. “One day you’ll understand.”

Lily toyed with her necklace. She was both physically and mentally biting her tongue. She closed her book, slipping the bookmark inside before rising from the loveseat.

“Maybe one day you will understand too. I’m off to bed, goodnight daddy.” She kissed him on the cheek before marching up the stairs leaving her father at a loss for words.

**

As the weeks progressed, Lily and Sweet Pea had grown closer than ever. Had you told either of them only months ago that they’d be as close as they were, they’d both have laughed. He was addicted to her presence and the way she made him feel, and vice versa. Their outings were strategically planned around Lily’s parents, not wanting to know what would happen if they found out. Often Lily would wait until after her parents would kiss her goodnight before sneaking out of the window to meet Sweet Pea at the end of the street. They would go to the Wyrm to dance and hang out with Trish and Fangs, but after awhile they would sneak off someplace they could be alone. Sometimes they would just go somewhere to talk, the air filled with laughter and stories. Other nights the air would remain silent except for the sound of their quickened heartbeats. Sweet Pea’s hands had a tendency to “accidentally” wander, not that Lily minded.

The two lovers were sprawled out side by side on an old blanket laid on the grass. One of the good things about living in a small town was the night sky, bountiful with stars. Sweet Pea put his arm behind his head, looking up at the sky. Lily turned her head to look at him, taking in his striking features illuminated by the moonlight.

“Sweet Pea, how come you never mention your parents?”

“Not really worth mentioning.”

“You know, you don’t always have to be so mysterious.”

Sweet Pea glanced at her and sighed. “My dad left when I was a baby. My mom’s off somewhere down south with her scumbag boyfriend. My grandma took care of me most of my life. She got real sick a couple years back, couldn’t work anymore. So I started doing odd jobs after school, that’s when I met FP.”

“I remember you telling me, you were only 15?”

“Yeah, I started helping him out for extra money to put food on the table. My grandma never asked where the money came from, but I think she had her suspicions. When she passed away I dropped out of school and officially joined the Serpents. I guess they’re the closest thing I have to a family now.”

She studied him silently, taking in what he shared with her. Her heart broke for him, she couldn’t begin to imagine what it must have been like having to take on the responsibilities of an adult at such a young age. Most kids wouldn’t know what to do, but with Sweet Pea there was no question about it. He knew he needed to take care of him and his grandma, no matter the risk. Lily admired him for that.

“That was incredibly brave of you to do that at such a young age. It sounds like you really loved her.”

“She had a real tough shell, but deep down she was the sweetest woman with the biggest heart. She’d do anything for anyone.”

“Reminds me of someone I know.” Lily intertwined her fingers with his and pressing a gentle kiss to his fingers. Sweet Pea let a small laugh escape his lips.

“I just wish she was still here. Though I guess it’s probably best she didn’t have to watch me turn into some punk kid.”

Lily shook her head. “I bet she would be proud of you.”

He scoffed. “Thanks, but I don’t know if she’d be proud her grandson ended up being a high school dropout turned Serpent.”

Lily sat up, resting on her elbow and looked down at him, his features had hardened.

“Maybe not…But I’m positive she would be proud of what a strong, loyal, sweet young man you are.” She traced the lines of the tattoo on his neck. “You’re a special guy, Sweet Pea. You don’t give yourself enough credit.”

Sweet Pea’s warm cocoa eyes met hers. No one had ever told him anything quite like that. He gazed at her in complete wonder, she looked like an angel with the moonlight shine around her hair like a halo. He reached his hand up to cup her cheek, his thumb running over her smooth skin.

“I don’t deserve you.” Lily turned her head to kiss the palm of his hand then leaned over and kissed him on the lips. Sweet Pea drew her over him so she lay straddling his waist, his hands rested on her hips. Her fingers quickly became lost in his hair, her hips lightly ground into his as he deepened the kiss. He whispered against her lips. “ _God, you drive me crazy_.” One of his hands drifted down to her bottom, giving it a light squeeze while pulling her hips into his.

Sweet Pea rolled them over on the blanket so his body was atop hers, his muscular arms enclosed her petite figure. His hands traveled up her sides until they came to cup her breasts, Lily sighed into their kiss. She let out a little whine when Sweet Pea pulled back from the kiss, leaving Lily out of breath. “Why did you stop?” His lips traveled down her neck

Sweet Pea kissed her on the lips and smirked. “Trust me.”

Lily nodded, her emerald eyes sparkled with curiosity as she watched his lips follow down her collar bone. He placed kisses across the top of her breasts, still clothed by the thin fabric of her dress. He pulled down the straps of her dress to expose a rosy pink lace bra. He lowered his head, sucking each peak through the fabric. Lily gasped at the sensation, she watched him with anticipation as he continued kissing his way down her stomach. Her lips parted slightly. She could feel his large, rough hands move up her thighs. He lifted her bottom from ground, just enough so he could pull her panties off and toss them to the side. He gently lifted her leg by the ankle and trailed soft kisses on the inside of it, working his way up her leg at a taunting pace.

“Sweet Pea, what are you doing?” Lily asked with a sigh, enjoying the feeling of his soft lips trail over her body but unsure of where it would lead. “We’re outside, what if someone sees?”

“Fuck it, let em’ see.”

Lily laughed. “You’re crazy.”

“You make me crazy.” Sweet Pea’s eyes locked on hers. “Relax for me, baby. Trust me.” He smiled at her reassuringly, she gave him a bashful grin and took a deep breath. Sweet Pea continued to trail kisses past her knee and kissed her inner thigh. His lips worked their way up to the crook of her thigh sucking on the skin, letting his teeth nip at the skin, leaving a red mark. “ _Sweets.”_ She half moaned, half scolded.

He kissed his way to her center. Lily looked down at him with eager, lustful eyes. “Relax, Lily.” He lowered his mouth to her center, and let his tongue slowly run over her. “ _Oh_   _god!_ ” Her hands flew down to grasp his hair. He continued to softly caress her with his tongue, leaving her a whimpering mess. He had pleasured her with only his hands until then, and this was something entirely different. Lily’s hips bucked up involuntarily against his mouth. Sweet Pea paused to look at her. Her head was tilted back in ecstasy, her eyes tightly shut and lips parted. “Does it feel good?” Lily nodded her head, seemingly unable to speak.

“Tell me.”

Her words sounded shaky. “Yes. Please don’t stop.”

Sweet Pea smirked and lowered his head back to the task at hand. Sweet Pea kissed her open mouthed running his tongue from the bottom of her slit up to the top. He entered two of his fingers inside of her, letting them curl inside of her. Lily moaned and trapped her bottom lip between her teeth, trying to stay quiet. She felt warmness between her thighs begin to spread over her body. Her nerves felt as though they were on fire. Lily whispered to the dark haired serpent. “ _Pea_.”

His tongue skillfully worked her clit as his fingers glided in and out of her soaking core, curling his fingers inside again and rubbing the pads of his fingers against her sweet spot. He felt her tighten around his fingers, watching as she arched her back in pleasure her dainty fingers twisting into the fabric of the blanket. Lily felt a warmness spread throughout her body, her breathing hitched, she was getting close. Sweet Pea could tell she was holding back, so he gave her some encouragement.

“Let go, baby girl. Let me hear you.” He whispered to her gruffly before lowering his head once more, flicking his tongue against her until her body began to shake, her moans getting louder and louder until she peaked. He knew he would never forget the way she whimpered out his name as she met her release.

Sweet Pea moved back up so he was lying next to her, watching her chest heave as she came down from her orgasm.

Lily looked over at him, her green eyes hazy. “Sweet Pea?”

“Yeah?”

“Make love to me.”

Sweet Pea examined her face. Their passion filled evenings would often reach a certain point where Sweet Pea took it upon himself to exercise serious restraint. If there was one thing he didn’t want to do, it was to rush her into anything.

“Not tonight, doll.”

“We could make love, right here under the stars. ” Though he could think of worse ideas, something about it just didn’t sit right with him. He pulled his eyes away from her.

“Lily, I said not tonight.”

Lily sat up to look at him. She had swallowed her pride and essentially offered herself to him yet he seemingly couldn’t to get out of the situation fast enough.

He saw the look in her eyes, and his heart sank. Embarrassment. “Shit, baby don’t-“ Sweet Pea tried to reach out to her but she pulled herself away from him, her hands ran over her face.

“It’s not that I don’t want to, but-“

“I made myself entirely vulnerable to you…and you denied me.”

“I didn’t deny you, baby. I just-“

“My parents will be looking for me soon, we should go.”

“Lily…”

She adjusted her clothing and smoothed back her hair before standing up and getting into the car.

Sweet Pea threw his hands up in defeat, shaking his head.

The car ride was mostly silent, Lily looked out the window with her arms folded around herself. When they pulled up to her house, Lily didn’t give him a chance to say anything before slamming the door of the car shut and strutting her way to the front door.

Sweet Pea groaned to himself. “ _Fucking Northside girls_.”

**

When Lily returned home that night, she lay awake in her bed. Her mind was racing. Why had Sweet Pea not wanted her? Had she misread the situation? From the sounds of it, he was far more experienced than her.

_What was it that those other girls had that she didn’t?_  That’s when an idea came to her. Lily quietly snuck the telephone into her bedroom and rang Trish.

“Hey Trish? Are you free tomorrow night? I need your help.”

**

Sweet Pea leaned over and lined up his shot at the pool table, pocketing two balls.

“Fangs, you’re up!” He loudly clapped his hands together. “Fangs?” He called out, but was left without a response. He turned around to see Fangs standing slack jawed facing the entrance of the Wyrm, a few other Serpents were doing the same. Sweet Pea snapped his fingers in front of Fangs’ face.

“Fogarty? Are you paying attention, we’re in the middle of a game.  _What_  are you staring at?”

Sweet Pea followed his stare to see what had stolen the attention away from the game. As soon as he turned around, his jaw dropped.

“ _Holy shit_.”

Lily walked through the doors of the Wyrm, Trish followed a few steps behind her. Sweet Pea’s eyes were drawn to to a tight-fitted, fire engine red off-the-shoulder top that left little to the imagination. His gaze followed down to the pair of high waisted black pants that hugged her curves perfectly. She wore a pair of simple red heels to match.

Trish had drilled it into Lily’s head that the grand entrance was most important. She swayed her hips, shifting her weight from one leg to the other as she sauntered over to the tall serpent she was in search of. She stood beside him and rested her arms behind her on the edge of the pool table.

“Hey, Pea.” She said, a wicked smile playing on her lips.

“L-Lily?” He couldn’t believe his eyes.

“You’re catching flies, sugar.” She brought her hand up to his chin and closed his mouth, pressing a brief but heated kiss to his lips. She pulled away too soon, leaving him weak for more. “Aren’t you going to buy me a drink?”

Sweet Pea internally groaned as he watched her saunter her way to the bar and leaning against it, strategically pushing her bum out to drive him crazy. And it was going exactly as she had hoped.

Sweet Pea turned to the guys surrounding the pool table, they stood gawking at the petite blonde. Sweet Pea’s jaw clenched and he threw a threatening look their way. “What the hell are  _you_  looking at?” They instantly tore their eyes away from Lily, resuming their conversations not wanting to cause any problems with SP.

Fangs threw his hand up in surrender. “I’m with her!” He wrapped his arm around Trish, who wore a satisfied grin. She felt like a proud parent. Since they were little girls, Trish had tested out nearly every beauty and fashion tip from Vogue magazine. Lily had (often against her will) been her own personal guinea pig. So when Lily called her the night before to  _ask_  herfor help, she couldn’t contain her excitement.

Fangs leaned into Trish, his arm wrapped tightly around her waist. “I was really looking at you the whole time, babe.”

Trish laughed, shaking her head. “I’d have been offended if your jaw hadn’t dropped at the sight of her. This is easily my best work yet.”

Sweet Pea made his way over to where Lily stood at the bar.

“Sorry to distract you from your game, it looked like it was getting pretty intense.”

“Oh, that-that’s no big deal. I’ll catch up with them later on.”

Toni came over to serve them. “SP, who’s your new friend? What happened to little miss Doris Day?”

“Hi, Toni.”

Toni’s eyes bugged out of her head upon recognizing her. “Damn _,_ Northie. You look  _hot_.”

Lily smiled brightly. Sweet Pea’s eyes narrowed at the petite bartender.

“You gonna get us a couple of drinks or stand there and hit on my girl right in front of me?”

Toni laughed. “Cool it, beanstalk. I’ll be back in a sec.”

Sweet Pea turned back to Lily, scanning her from head to toe. Was it possible that he was only dreaming? Her fair hair was worn in big sexy curls that framed her face. She had never worn so much makeup in her life, not even for dance recitals. But she thought Trish did a nice job, giving her a classic smokey eye with an expertly applied cat eye. But it was the rich, crimson lipstick glossing her lips that had Sweet Pea’s mind racing with sinful thoughts. He subconsciously bit into his bottom lip.

“She’s right, you look…great.”

She smiled at him, she couldn’t deny how powerful she felt knowing how much she was affecting him. Smooth talking Sweet Pea was wrapped around her little finger.

“Do you think so? I wasn’t sure about the top, do you think it looks alright?” She adjusted the tight fabric of her red shirt so it revealed a bit more cleavage. Sweet Pea easily fell into her trap, his eyes lingered on her chest. His tongue ran over his bottom lip.

“I think it’s just fine.”

Toni slid over their drinks, Sweet Pea didn’t even break eye contact to look at Toni as he handed her a couple of bills. He watched Lily pluck the cherry from her drink and wrapped her equally as red lips around it, pulling it from the stem and eating it. She took a sip from her drink,  looking up at him through her dark lashes.

“Is there something on your mind, Pea?”

Sweet Pea leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Some thoughts are best kept locked up, darlin’.” She tried her best to fight off the blush that emerged on her cheeks, and took another sip of her drink. But it wasn’t before he noticed. She knew her facade was breaking, she needed to recover quick. Trish said the key to seduction was to always have the upper hand, keep them wrapped around your finger.

Once she was positive the color in her cheeks had evened out, she turned to look him in the eye as she swirled the straw from her mixed drink. “Can I ask you a question?”

“You could ask me just about anything right now, sweetness.”

She gave him a flirty smile. “Are you  _really_  as good as they say you are?”

He tilted his head at the question. His lips parted, but for once he was at a loss for words.

“At pool, I mean.” Lily simpered at him, satisfied that he fell into her trap.

Sweet Pea cleared his throat, straightening out his shoulders and taking a drink from his beer. “Pool, right. Yeah…Well I’ve beat everyone in this bar at least once or twice.”

Lily shook her head lightly, fluttering her lashes. “Not  _everyone_.”

Sweet Pea let out a low chuckle. “Are you challenging me, blondie?”

Lily shrugged. “So what if I am?” She grabbed her drink and started walking over to an empty pool table, grabbing Sweet Pea’s hand and dragging him along with her. “Show me what you’ve got.”

Sweet Pea groaned and tossed back the rest of his drink before following her girl through the bar.

She didn’t expect to win, at least not at pool. She made a point of leaning over the table just right, giving him a clear view of her breasts. She’d give him subtle touches here and there in passing. If she sipped her drink, she made sure to keep eye contact with him. He knew what she was doing to him, and he hated to admit it was working. He was like putty in her perfectly manicured hands. They were about halfway through the game when Sweet Pea walked up behind her, trapping her between his body and the table. She turned around in his arms. She captured her bottom lip between her teeth as she looked at him. His eyes were big and dark, almost animalistic. He had endured enough torture for one night.

“Maybe we should cut the game short. I could use some fresh air.”

“Afraid I might make a comeback?”

Sweet Pea shook his head and took the pool stick from her, leaning it up against the table along with his own before wrapping his arm around her waist and leading them out of the Wyrm.

**

Lily stood leaning back against the cold brick wall. She tilted her head slightly to look at Sweet Pea as he puffed on a cigarette. He watched her. His eyes scanned over her body. He couldn’t deny the way her new look was affecting him. The fact that he knew it had the same effect on every other guy in the bar bothered him immensely. It took every ounce of strength he had to refrain from tossing her over his shoulder in the middle of the bar and bringing her somewhere only he could see her like that. “

Lily’s eyes shifted to his lips. She reached out to remove the cigarette from between them and replaced it between her own scarlet lips. She gently pulled some smoke from the cigarette as she maintained eye contact with Sweet Pea. He was hypnotized, watching as the smoke escape her pursed lips.  

“Don’t do that.” He plucked the cigarette from between her fingers. “Thought you didn’t smoke?”

“I don’t. Trish and I used to steal her father’s cigarettes when we were younger, just to try it.” She shrugged her bare shoulders. Trish occasionally smoked, usually in social settings.

“Interesting.” Sweet Pea nodded. taking one last puff before tossing it to the ground. Wanna go for a ride?”

“I might accept your offer, however I don’t see your car anywhere.” Her eyes scanned the lot.

Sweet Pea shook his head, amusedly and walked over to straddle a shiny black motorcycle.

“No car necessary.”

Lily’s mouth fell open, her bad girl facade instantly shattered. In the time that Lily had known Sweet Pea, she had never been on his bike. She had truthfully been dreading the day that he would ask.

“There is no way I’m getting on that death trap.” She crossed her arms.

Sweet Pea smirked at her, there was the Lily he knew. “Come on, doll. I thought you were feeling rebellious tonight? You’re not afraid are you?”

Lily chewed on her lip. “Of course not.”

**

Within minutes of him cutting the engine to the bike and letting down the kickstand, Sweet Pea had Lily pinned up against a tree. His hands groped and massaged her body through her tight clothing as their tongues tangled and fought for dominance. The two of them sighing into each kiss.

Their lips connected again, Lily pulled his body against hers making Sweet Pea groan. He kissed and sucked on the gentle skin between he neck and shoulder. She let her hand slide down his chest until she reached the cool metal buckle of his belt. Sweet Pea groaned, pushing himself into her touch. She gently tugged on the leather of his belt. “Maybe I’m not as good as everyone thinks…” Sweet Pea pulled her head to his, his lips taking hers possessively. His strong hands ran up her sides to cup her breasts. He groaned against her soft lips, his tongue meeting hers as they fought for dominance. Lily’s hands gripped into the leather of his jacket. She pulled away from his lips.

“I want you.”

Sweet Pea shot her a look, and ran his hand though his hair in frustration. “Lily.”

Lily let out an exasperated sigh, throwing her hands up. “I don’t understand, Sweet Pea. From the sounds of it you’ve been with every girl on Southside but when your girlfriend looks you in the eye and tells you she wants you, you shut her down? How does that make any sense?”

Sweet Pea stood there in silence, looking past her and into the darkness of the forest.

“What is the difference between me and those girls?”

“There’s a big difference.” Sweet Pea took a deep breath. “Lily, it’s not that I don’t think you look sexy as sin right now. Believe me, you have no idea what this outfit is doing to me. But it isn’t  _you_. I mean, what is all of this about?”

Lily reached up to fiddle with her necklace when she realized she had taken it off. Trish had said it would ruin the look. She wrapped her arms around herself protectively. “I thought maybe it would make you want me. Sometimes it feels like you don’t.”

“ _Don’t want you?_  Baby, you really have no clue how bad I want you. It keeps me up half the night. Hell, I’ve wanted you since the day I first laid eyes on you.”

“Then why do you keep stopping?”

“Because I-“ He stopped himself, afraid of what might have slipped out. “I think you deserve something more than just some quickie in the back of my car or in the woods. You mean more than that to me. I know it’s your first time, so I want it to be special for you.”

Her eyes softened and Sweet Pea ran his hand over her cheek. “And when the time comes I want you to be  _you._ I want the Lily I fell for.”

Lily gave him a small smile. “Thank you, Pea.”

“I don’t ever want you to feel like you need to change for me or anybody else.” He caressed her cheek, she melted into his touch. “You’re goddamn perfect as you are. If I have to remind you that everyday, I will.”

Even in her heels she had to stand on the tip of her toes to kiss him. He happily wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her tighter to him as they kissed. Lily was the first to pull back. His eyes were warm and loving.

“You know…it’s really too bad.”

“What is?”

“Trish went through all the trouble of getting me dolled up…all to go unappreciated.” She offered Sweet Pea a suggestive look.

“I mean, I guess it would be a shame to put this outfit of yours to  _complete_ waste…”

Lily giggled, pulling on his dog tags to lower his head to hers. They both smiled into the kiss. Sweet Pea’s arms snugly encased her waist, pulling her into his strong build. The tempo of kiss quickly changed from steady and sweet to urgent and hungered. The scent and taste of candied cherries flooded Sweet Pea’s senses as he became fully enveloped by her presence. Lily leaned up to his ear, her hand making it’s way back to the top of his jeans. “I want to make you feel as good as you make me feel.”

Sweet Pea swallowed hard.

Her hands tugged on the leather of his belt, her hands nervously fumbled with the buckle until it finally came undone. She cautiously let her hand palm him through his underwear, her eyes widening at the feel of him. Sweet Pea sucked in a breath as her fingers gently glided over his length through the fabric, twitching in answer of her touch.

Lily peered up at him sheepishly. “Pea?”

“Yeah?”

“I-I don’t really know how to…I’ve never…”

Sweet Pea smiled at her sweetly, her innocence never failed to tug at his heart. He pressed a tender kiss to her forehead. He pushed down his underwear, letting himself free. He covered her delicate hand with his own and guided her to him, wrapping her dainty fingers around his shaft. Sweet Pea softly grunted at the feeling of her soft hands covering him.

“Just wrap your fingers around it like that, and move your hand up and down.”

Lily watched between them, their hands gliding up and down his length. It wasn’t as though she had a lot of references to compare him to, but she was still taken aback at his size.

Sweet Pea’s voice became breathier. “You can grip it tighter.” He closed his fist around her hand more, tightening her grasp on him. “Yeah, like that. That feels amazing.” Sweet Pea eventually let go of her hand, letting her take over fully. He let his fingers trail down her neck and along her collarbone, down to the exposed skin of her shoulder.

Lily got curious and ran her thumb over the velvety tip, Sweet Pea let out a moan. “ _Fuck_.”

Lily stopped moving. “I’m sorry, did I hurt you?!”

He shook his head. “No, it just felt really good. You’re doing great.”

She continued to pleasure him with her hand, enjoying the sounds of his soft moans.

His hand made its way down to the neckline of her red top, he fingered the thin fabric for a moment before pulling down the fabric to expose her lace clad breasts. He let his hands gently caress the skin, encouraging soft sighs from Lily. He lowered his head down to kiss her neck, gently sucking and biting her skin. Sweet Pea groaned when she pushed her body into his even closer, the soft swell of her breasts pressed against his hard chest. His heartbeat was racing.

“A little faster.” He pleaded.

She proceeded to stroke his member with more confidence. Sweet Pea’s breathing was short and shaky as he neared his climax. Lily tightened her grip around him, causing him to grunt into the crook of her neck. “ _Lily…_ ” His fingers dug into her hips, pushing her back against the rough bark of the tree behind her and pressing his body flush against hers. She could feel his muscles twitch as she built up his pleasure. He was teetering on the edge of release when Lily flicked her thumb over the tip once again, setting off his orgasm. He bit down on her neck, grunting in ecstasy as the pleasure shot through his body. His hips jerked into her touch until he finally came down from his high.

Lily’s breath had grown almost as labored as his, she couldn’t believe she had done that. It was the ultimate confidence boost, being able to bring him as much pleasure as he had brought her countless times.

Sweet Pea sighed into her neck before lifting to rest his forehead against hers, his signature curl tickling her skin. Lily gazed up at him. A look of contentment had washed over his features, an expression that was rarely worn by the Serpent. She grinned proudly. “I  _seduced_  you.”

He chuckled darkly. “Correction _,_  you damn near  _killed_  me. Who knew you had a little bit of poison in you, angel?”

Lily chuckled and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.

“Seems like I’m full of surprises lately.”

**

Lily kissed Sweet Pea goodbye and ran to the front door of her house, she quietly turned the lock on the door and opened it. She slipped off her heels and made her way over to the stairs.

“Where are you coming from?”

Lily almost jumped out of her skin, bracing herself against the wall. Her mother was waiting at the kitchen table, her hands folded before her.

“I was…I was over Trish’s house, she forgot to tell her parents I was staying over. I didn’t want to cause any trouble so I came home.” Lily fumbled through her excuse then turned to run up the stairs before her mother could ask anything more. “Goodnight, mother.”

“Stop.” Lily halted her movements. “Let me see you.” Lily groaned internally before she walked over to stand before her mother. Mrs. Greene scanned her body with narrow eyes. She lowered her voice so as not to rouse her husband, who would surely have a fit if he saw his daughter like that.

“ _What in the devil are you wearing?!_ ” Lily crossed her arms to cover her chest and shrugged.

“Trish gave me a makeover. It was just for fun.”

Her mother’s hand brushed over her cheek, her eyes caught at the nape of her neck for a beat. Her eyes widened.

“What’s this?”

Lily narrowed her brow in confusion. “What’s what?” She turned to look in the mirror hung in the hall. Her neck was decorated in hickeys. She made herself a mental note to kill Sweet Pea.

“It was the curling iron. You know how clumsy Trish can be.” She laughed nervously, pushing her blonde curls to cover the marks before turning to face her mother again. She wore a stone cold look, her arms folded around her. “ _Curling iron_.”

She abruptly turned away from Lily and walked to the kitchen, bracing herself against the sink as she looked out the window.

“Go upstairs and wash that stuff off your face before your father sees you. I don’t want to see you dressed like this again. You tell that redheaded hussy to keep far away from you, she’s nothing but trouble.”

“Mom…”

“Goodnight, Lilian.”

Lily nodded her head silently. “Goodnight.”

Mrs. Greene rubbed her temples, trying to keep her composure. She was no fool, she had known something was up. Coming home late, spending an unusual amount of time at the Vargas girl’s house. She knew from an early age that girl was up to no good. Trish was always much too fast for a girl like Lily. A light outside the window caught Mrs. Greene’s eye, the headlights of a black motorcycle pulling away from the house. It wasn’t one of the neighbors, and it certainly didn’t belong to Trish’s parents. She could hardly make out the driver, but she knew that it certainly wasn’t Trish…

 

 


	8. Chapter Eight: Please Love Me Forever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> contains smut*

Lily knew her mother was suspicious, suddenly Mrs. Greene took to knitting in the living room until she returned home. Lily would scramble for a weak excuse for her late return and run to her bedroom before she could be further pressed. Of course Mrs. Greene knew when her daughter was lying, as she had never been any good at it. She noted the way her hair, gold as her own, was tousled and untamed when she walked through the front door. She also noted the way her skin flushed pink, and the dark marks of a lover that she tried hiding beneath her locks. Night after night, Mrs. Green was faced with the reflection of her younger, more naive self.

 

**

 

Lily sat atop one of the large metal toolboxes that lined the walls of the garage, her bare legs swung back and forth as she watched her boyfriend work on a car. He was dressed in his signature white tee and a greasy pair of jeans, a cigarette tucked behind his ear. She loved watching him work, specifically the way his brow furrowed and his lips parted as he focused on each task. He seemed as though he was lost in thought. Plus, there was something about his large hands stained with grease that was inexplicably sexy to her.

 

Sweet Pea caught her checking him out and flashed her a cheeky grin. “See something you like, darlin’?”

 

She coyly smiled back. “I was just admiring your hands. I like them.”

 

“Yeah?” He wiped his hands on the rag he pulled from his back pocket and came to stand before her, letting his hands slide up to her knee. “I think they like you, too.”

 

Lily giggled, giving him a quick peck on the lips. “I’m glad the feeling is mutual.” She said, pushing his hair back. She nodded to the car he was working on. “It looks really nice.”

 

“Yeah. Hopefully she’ll run as good as she looks. I was thinking about taking her out for a drive later on if you’re interested in joining me. Maybe I could put these hands to good use in other ways.” He offered with a wink. 

 

Lily bit her lip at the implications.

 

“Tempting…but I can’t stay out late. I think my mom is catching on to me.”

 

Sweet Pea’s smile fell. “Wouldn’t want that _,_ now would we?” He stood up straight and went to move away, but not before Lily pulled back on his arm. She looked him in the eyes and offered him a sympathetic look.

 

“I wish I could just… _tell them_. But I can’t.”

 

He held her gaze momentarily before averting his eyes elsewhere. “Right. I get it.” He nodded curtly and went back to working on the car. She did want to tell her parents about them, about their relationship and how happy he made her. But she knew it could never be that simple. She had noticed it was something that bothered Sweet Pea more and more as time went on, and she felt badly about it.

 

Lily sighed. “I’ll go out for a little bit. But I can’t be late again.”

 

**

 

“ _Sweet Pea_ …” Lily sighed into his mouth. His hands bunched into the thin fabric of her dress as he pulled her body closer. Lily pulled away, only to be pulled back down into his lap and entangled in his warm embrace. “Pea, I’ve got to go.” Sweet Pea shook his head and tangled his hand in her curls. “Not yet.” He pulled her soft lips back to his and she easily melted right back into him. Lily felt his other hand grip her hip. “ _Sweets_.”

 

Sweet Pea groaned against her lips, not yet ready to let her go. “A few more minutes, baby.”

 

Lily sighed and gently pushed back his shoulders. “I told you, my mother knows something is going on. I’ve been late every night this week. She sits at the table and waits for me, I have to rush to my room before she can interrogate me.”

 

“Wouldn’t be a problem if you just told her about-“

 

Lily shook her head. “You know I can’t do that.”

 

Sweet Pea ran his fingers back through his hair, frustrated. He leaned back against his seat, one hand still resting on her hip. “Look, if you’re ashamed of me-“

 

“No! That’s not it. Really, it isn’t.”

 

“Well what is it then?”

 

Sweet Pea threw his hands up in surrender at her lack of response and put the keys in the ignition. “You know what? Just forget it. Don’t tell them. We’ll be just like Trish and Fangs. That seems to be going swimmingly for them.”

 

Lily placed her hand against his arm. “Sweet Pea…”

 

“It’s fine, I get it.”

 

Lily rolled her eyes and sighed. “You’re stubborn as a mule, SP.”

 

“Oh _I’m_ the stubborn one? Don’t make me laugh.” He retorted with a humorless chuckle.

 

“What is your issue lately? Why do you need everyone to know so badly? I thought you didn’t care what other people thought.”

 

“ _I_ don’t care, but you clearly do.”

 

“What is that supposed to mean?”

 

“You’re too embarrassed, too worried of what other people will think of you if you told them I was your guy.”

 

“That’s not true.”

 

“It _is_ true! Look, I think we both know I’m not the type of guy that girls bring home to their parents. But I…care about you.”

 

Lily’s eyes lowered and she sat quietly for a moment before she responded. “I’m sorry I haven’t told my parents. I’m just afraid that they won’t let me see you again.”

 

Sweet Pea tucked a strand of curls behind her ear. “We won’t let that happen.”

 

Lily smiled softly, her eyes running over the handsome young man in front of her. “I promise I’ll tell them soon.”

 

“I just want everyone to know you’re mine.” Sweet Pea pulled her in for a long kiss that left her head spinning. Lily leaned her forehead against his.

 

 

“I hate to ruin the moment…but I do have to get home.”

 

Sweet Pea groaned when she pulled back into her own seat, straightening out her dress and fixing her hair in the drop down mirror. Lily caught him looking at her.

 

“What is it? Is my makeup messy?”

 

Sweet Pea simply shook his head. “Just wondering how I got so lucky.” Sweet Pea smiled to himself before turning the keys in the ignition, bringing the car to life.

 

 

**

 

As soon as Lily walked through the door, she leaned up against it and closed her eyes. She let out a sigh and walked further into the house.

 

“Who is he?”

 

Lily yelped in surprise.

 

“What are you still doing up?”

 

Mrs. Greene sat in her bathrobe and curlers knitting in the corner of the living room in her chair. “Well, I was worried about you. I called Trish’s parents to see if you were over at their house but they said that they haven’t laid eyes on you in _weeks?_ ”

 

Lily stood in silence, chewing on her lip.

 

“Sit down.”

 

Lily swallowed hard and took a seat on the couch facing her mother.

 

“Who is this boy?” Her eyes never left the small scarf she was working on as she spoke.

 

“What boy?”

 

“Lilian I’m no fool, so why don’t you just tell me about him.” She pressed.

 

This was it, this was an opportunity to come clean about everything, to tell the truth about her whereabouts. To tell the truth about Sweet Pea, and how happy he made her. How her heart would beat out of her chest and her stomach flipped at the sight of him. How she thought she might be in love…The words were on the tip of her tongue but for some reason she couldn’t force them out.

 

“What’s his name?”

 

“His name is…I-I can’t tell you that, but-“

 

“And why not?”

 

“I-“

 

“What are you two doing up so late? Is everything alright?” A voice was heard coming from upstairs.

 

Lily let out a deep breath, her father saved the day.

 

“Nothing to worry about, we were just catching up sweetheart. Go on back to bed, I’ll be there shortly.”

 

“Alright. Goodnight, Lily-pad.”

 

“Goodnight, daddy.”

 

Mrs. Greene waited until she heard her husband close the bedroom door. “You’re lucky your father is blind to all of this.” 

 

She rose to her feet and finally looked at her daughter. “We _will_ continue this conversation soon.”

 

Lily’s shoulders sagged against the door to her bedroom once it was closed. This was going to be just as difficult as she had expected.

 

**

 

The final school bell rang, Lily and Trish eagerly made their way out of Riverdale High School. When the two rounded the corner outside, Lily felt a pair of hands on her waist and yelped. She turned around to see it was just Sweet Pea.

 

She swatted his chest playfully. “ _Pea!_ What are you doing here?”

 

“Came to pick you up, wanted to see if you wanted to eat before we go out later.”

 

Lily turned back to Trish. “Trish, Sweets and I are planning on going to the bowling alley tonight if you and Fangs are interested in joining.”

 

Trish’s smile faltered. “Actually, I think I’m gonna stay in tonight.”

 

Odd, Lily thought to herself. Trish was never one to pass up on a chance to get out of the house, especially if Fangs would be there. “Oh, okay. Then I’ll catch you at dance tomorrow?”

 

Trish gave her friend a curt nod before walking away from the couple over to her baby pink car.

 

Sweet Pea shook his head. “Fogarty’s been driving me up a wall, poor kid’s heartbroken.”

 

Lily quirked an eyebrow. “ _Heartbroken?_ What happened?” She was surprised Trish hadn’t mentioned anything.

 

“All I know is that they got into a big fight and she broke it off with him, from the sounds of it I think it’s for good.”

 

Lily’s brows knitted together. She wondered why Trish hadn’t told her anything about what happened between them. The last she knew, they were fine and Trish had planned on breaking it off with Archie. It was highly unlike Trish not to spill the beans, something was off.

 

**

 

Fangs was in the middle of eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich when heard a knock on his front door. Behind it stood the redheaded girl who had broken his heart. Her mascara had trailed down her cheeks, leaving gray streaks on her porcelain skin.

 

“Trish?” She had been the last person he’d expected to show up to his doorstep. Especially after their fight earlier that week. Long story made short, Fangs found out she was still seeing Archie and told her she had to choose between the two of them. Needless to say, it hadn’t gone the way Fangs had hoped.

 

Trish softly whimpered, her hands now covered her face. “I need to talk to you.”

 

“Come in.” He held the door open for her, she leaned against the card table he was eating on and faced him but wouldn’t make eye contact.

 

“So…what do you need to talk about?”

 

“I’m sorry about what happened earlier this week. I-”

 

Fangs took a deep breath and crossed his arms. “Can I ask you something? And you’ve gotta promise you’ll tell me the truth.”

 

Trish wiped away a few tears and nodded her head, still not looking at him. “Okay.”

 

“Why do you keep going back to him?”

 

“Because I love him.” She replied meekly.

 

Fangs shook his head, unconvinced. “What’s the _real_ reason?”

 

“What do you want me to say, Fangs? You can judge me if you’d like, you wouldn’t be the first or last person to do so. But I’m doing what is right, whether I like it or not.”

 

“Walking away from someone who loves you just because you’re afraid of what people think…that’s what’s right?”

 

She shook her head and scoffed. “You wouldn’t understand.”

 

“Well then help me understand, Trish because right now I’m completely lost!”

 

“I have to _protect_ us!”

 

Fangs’ eyes shot up to her face, he cocked an eyebrow. “ _Us_?”

 

She swallowed hard, steadying her breath before continuing.

 

 

“I’m pregnant, Fangs.”

 

 

His mouth hung open in shock.

 

“Y-you’re pregnant?”

 

Trish sniffled and nodded her head in confirmation. Fangs blew out a heavy breath and ran his fingers through his inky hair. “Oh my god.” They weren’t always careful, they were known to give into impulsive desires on more than one occasion. But he had never expected this to happen to them.

 

Trish’s eyes welled up with tears again. “Fangs I’m so sorry…”

 

He pulled her into an embrace as she wept into the leather of his jacket. “Everything will be okay.”

 

They stood in the middle of the kitchen in silence until Fangs spoke up.

 

“Do you know if…” He worked himself up to ask him the question. “Is it _mine_?”

 

“I’m not sure.”

 

His face fell upon hearing her response. Once again, it wasn’t the outcome he had hoped for.

 

“Look…I know I don’t have much, but I’m a hard worker. We could make it work. Whether the baby is mine or… _his_ , I’ll raise them just the same. I mean it, I-“

 

Trish pulled back from the Serpent, her arms wrapped around herself defensively.

 

“Fangs…I’m staying with Archie.”

 

His eyes nearly fell out of his skull. “ _What_?”

 

“It’s my only option.”

 

“Trish, he hits you.”

 

“He won’t do it again. He promised me he would stop.”

 

“That’s what you keep telling everyone…but I see the bruises.” Trish pulled on the sleeves of her cardigan to cover her arms.

 

“Archie comes from a good family, they-“

 

“They have money.”

 

She let out an exasperated sigh. “It’s the our only chance at having a good life.”

 

Fangs shook his head in denial. “Look, I know I can’t offer you the finer things. If I could, you know that I would in a heartbeat. But I can take care of you, Trish. Both of you. I can love you. I _do_ love you. I love you more than anything in the world.”

 

Crossed the room to kiss him on the cheek, her tears were cold against his skin. “I love you too, Fangs.” Her fingers traced the planes of his face.

 

He gave her a loving smile, looking deeply into her eyes. He swore he saw a glimmer of hope, but just as quickly as it had arrived, it was gone. The soft look on her face disappeared, as though someone had flicked a switch. Trish slowly backed away from him, her eyes scanning his face once more.

 

“I’m sorry, I really am. I hope one day you can forgive me.”

 

She walked past him, when she reached the door she heard Fangs reply softly.

 

“I’ll always forgive you.”

 

**

 

Trish crossed the street away from Sunnyside Trailer Park, tears now flooding her cheeks as she tried to catch her breath. Her heart had been completely shattered, and the worst of it was that it was all her own doing. She had convinced herself over and over again on her way to his trailer that this was the only way. She knew it would be difficult, but it hadn’t fully set in until the moment he all but begged her to stay with him. The hopeful look in his eye was enough to tear her heart in two. She got into her car and leaned her head against the steering wheel as she sobbed.

 

In the next lot over, two letterman-clad Bulldogs watched the redheaded girl’s pink car pull out of the deserted parking lot. A fuming Archie Andrews seethed from the driver’s seat. 

 

“I knew it, man. I _knew_ it! I can’t believe she cheated on me with that fucking Southside rat!”

 

Reggie shook his head in disbelief. “I’m sorry, man.”

 

“Rumor has it, Lily Greene’s been hanging around with that snake that jumped me that night at Pop’s.” Reggie shook his head, wincing at the memory. “What the hell is up with these Northside girls?”

 

“I don’t know, Reggie. All I know is that someone has got to teach those Southside scumbags to stick to their own.”

 

“Yeah, but how are we supposed to do that? Everyone knows they don’t fight fair in a fight. We’d probably get knifed up by one of them.”

 

“We don’t need to fight them…I think I have an idea.”

 

**

 

The bowling alley was fairly quiet since it was a weekday. Sweet Pea and Lily played a couple of games, every once in awhile he would give her a few pointers. Partially just so he could wrap his arms around her, but also to improve her swing. The two lovebirds handed back their bowling shoes to the boy at the counter and headed out to the parking lot hand in hand. Lily had Sweet Pea’s jacket draped over her shoulders, shielding her from the slight chill in the air. 

 

“You hadn’t warned me you were so good at bowling. I don’t think that was a fair match.” She teased.

 

Sweet Pea shrugged his shoulders. “I used to come here every year on my birthday with my grandma. Me and Fangs try to carry on the tradition since she passed away.”

 

Lily squeezed his hand. “Maybe this year I could tag along too.”

 

Sweet Pea chuckled. “Actually, you just did.”

 

Lily halted in the middle of the lot and turned to face him. “Today is your birthday?!”

 

Sweet Pea slipped his hands in his jeans pockets and shrugged.

 

Lily crossed her arms and shot him a glare. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”

 

“Cool it, it’s not a big deal baby.”

 

She gawked at him as though he had nine heads. “Not a big deal?! It’s _your_ day.”

 

Sweet Pea shifted uncomfortably. “Seriously, it’s nothing.”

 

Lily rolled her eyes at him and grabbed his hand, dragging him along to the car. “Come on, the supermarket closes in a half an hour.”

 

“Supermarket? What the hell do we need to go there for?”

 

“Don’t ask questions, Pea. Just get in the car.”

 

“Alright, quit being so bossy. Although, I do kind of like it.” He sent a wink her way.

 

She laughed. “Get in.”

 

**

 

“I’m assuming you don’t have flour at home?”

 

Sweet Pea just looked at her with a blank expression. Lily nodded and placed the package of all purpose flour in the basket before taking off for the next item on her list.

 

“What is all of this shit for?”

 

“These _ingredients_ are for your birthday cake.”

 

“Birthday cake?”

 

Lily nodded absentmindedly as she scanned the aisles, every once in awhile tossing another item into the basket.

 

“You don’t have to do all of this. Seriously.”

 

“I know that. But I want to.”

 

**

 

Sweet Pea pulled up outside of his trailer in Sunnyside. Truthfully, he was nervous about showing Lily where he grew up. He knew she would never judge him for it, or think badly about him. But there was something so personal and sort of scary about bringing someone new into his space. Especially Lily.

 

He grabbed the bags from the back of the car and unlocked the front door to his trailer, letting her enter before him. Once inside, he set the grocery bags on the kitchen counter and flicked on the lights.

 

“It’s nothing to brag about, but-“

 

“I like it. It’s very _you_.” Lily said with a warm smile as she walked around the living room, her eyes running over each item. Her eyes landed on a small black and white photo on the coffee table of a dark haired child with a toothy smile sitting in the lap of an older woman with a smile just as kind. 

 

“Is this you?”

 

Sweet Pea nodded as he began unpacking the bags on the counter. “Me and my grandma.”

 

“You were a doll.”

 

“ _Were_?” He playfully cocked an eyebrow.

 

Lily giggled. “Still are.” The noticed the frame next to it was a portrait of a handsome young man. He had the same striking dark eyes as Sweet Pea. He was dressed in an army uniform.

 

“My dad.”

 

“He was very handsome, I can see where you got that from.” Sweet Pea gave her a small smile. 

 

“He was an army man?”

 

“Yeah, killed in action when I was a kid.” 

 

“That must have been tough.”

 

SP shrugged his shoulders. “I was really young, didn’t get to know him that well. I just remember I was outside flying paper planes in the yard one day and this black car pulled up in the driveway and two men in uniform walked up to my mom and handed her a flag. Mom had a hard time dealing with it, probably why she went off the deep end.”

 

“But, enough of that boring stuff. I thought we were making a cake?”

 

 

**

 

“It’s almost done! Just a few more minutes and then we can put on the frosting. I doubt it will be the best birthday cake you’ve had but-“

 

“I’ve never had one before, so you’ve already won.”

 

Lily stopped to look at him.

 

“You’ve never had a birthday cake before?”

 

Sweet Pea shook his head. “No.”

 

She gave him a sad smile before quickly perking up. “Well...it’s a tradition for the birthday boy to lick the spoon clean.” She held up the spoon covered in leftover chocolate batter, taking a swipe with her finger and tasting it. She could feel Sweet Pea watching her with a discernible expression on his face.

 

“Why are you looking at me like that? Did I get cake batter on my face?” She reached up to wipe at her cheek, but Sweet Pea caught her hand in his own. His eyes were warm and gentle, his expression vulnerable. His eyes scanned her face, taking her in.

 

“I love you.”

 

She paused and held his gaze. “What?”

 

“I said,” he stood just inches away from her. “I love you.”

 

“I-I love you too.”

 

They stood looking at each other for a moment, before Lily reached up on her toes to plant a hard kiss to his lips. His arms encircled her waist, pulling her closer. Her tongue darted out, running along his bottom lip making him groan. He lifted her up by her waist and set her on the counter, standing between her legs as their kisses became more and more impassioned. Lily’s fingers twisted in the black t-shirt he wore. “Where is your room?” Sweet Pea pulled back and nodded his head over to the hallway. Lily slid off of the countertop, leaving Sweet Pea breathless. She held his hand in hers and pulled him down the hall.

 

**

 

“This is your room?”

 

“Uh, yeah.”

 

It was simply decorated, just a queen sized bed, an end table and a bureau against the opposite wall. A few pin-up girl posters hung around the room.

 

“I didn’t realize you held an interest in art.” Lily teased.

 

“Oh, uh…those are just...” he trailed off as he watched Lily sit on the edge of his bed facing him. She looked up at the y’all serpent through her long lashes. Her hands lifted to the top of her blouse.

 

“I’m sorry I didn’t have time to get you a proper birthday gift...but I think I can make due.”

 

She slowly began unbuttoning her blouse. Sweet Pea’s eyes were glued to her dainty hands as they deftly worked their way down, exposing her skin inch by inch until her body was on display. Lily set the shirt to the side before reaching behind her waist to unzip her skater skirt and letting it slide down her legs and onto the ground. She inhaled a shaky breath and locked eyes with Sweet Pea, who was leaning against the doorframe.

 

Sweet Pea cleared his throat and shrugged off his Serpent Jacket, tossing it to the side. He lifted his white cotton t-shirt over his head, his hair slightly ruffled from the movement. Lily’s green eyes raked over the toned muscles of his bare chest. She watched his hands lower to unfasten his belt, his jeans falling to the floor leaving him in just a pair of boxers and metal dog tags hanging from his neck.

 

She maintained eye contact with him as she reached behind herself again, this time to unclasp her bra. The lacy material was dropped to the floor. Sweet Pea absentmindedly wet his lips.

 

Blonde ringlets fell to her shoulders when she untied the pink ribbon from her ponytail.

 

Sweet Pea crossed the room, unsure of how much longer he could keep his hands to himself. He lowered to her, their lips joined in a slow, gentle kiss. Lily pulled back slightly in a whisper, “I love you.” her forehead rested against his. “And I love you.” Sweet Pea gently guided Lily back onto his bed. His strong body hovered over hers, their lips meeting again as he let his hands trail across the soft skin of her breasts. Lily sighed into him at the contact, the metal of his rings sending shivers up her spine. She felt his hand sweep down to caress the soft skin of her stomach and further down to her panties. He could feel her heart fluttering as he pulled back the fabric of her underwear, letting his hand slip inside. He slid over her heat, letting his fingers push into her and groaning at how wet she was. Lily softly moaned at the feeling of her walls stretching around his fingers. Her head fell back against the mattress with a gasp when he pulled out of her and began rubbing small, gentle circles over her most sensitive spot. Her fingernails pressed into Sweet Pea’s strong bicep as the pleasure took over her. He groaned watching her small body writhe underneath him as she released against his hand, his name falling off her lips.

 

He kissed her cheek as lay there catching her breath, eyes closed. He went to move next to her but not before she caught his jaw in her hand, pulling his face back to hers to look him in his warm brown eyes.

 

“I want you.”

 

Sweet Pea held her gaze, searching her eyes for any sign of uncertainty, but ultimately finding nothing but desire. 

“Okay.” His eyes softened, she was his weakness. He kissed her softly but tenderly, slow at first but their breath soon grew heavy as their passion built up. Their hands ran over one another, caressing and groping. Lily’s hips gently ground against his, with nothing separating them but their underwear. Sweet Pea kissed and nipped at the length of her neck and moved further down her body. His hands moved down to her panties once again and pulled them down her toned legs, and dropping them to the floor of his bedroom. He stood at the end of the bed looking down at her laying back with her beautiful body on full display. She had a lustful look in her eyes but an incredibly angelic face. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever known.

 

He pushed his underwear down to join the rest of their clothes on the floor and went to grab something from the drawer of his nightstand and returned to the bed with protection on. He settled himself between her legs and hovered over her resting on his forearm. He cupped her cheek with his hand, his thumb running over her warm skin. She gave him a worried glance.

 

“Are you nervous?”

 

She answered honestly, her breath a little shaky. “A bit. I’ve never-” Sweet Pea kissed her on the forehead.

 

“I’ll be gentle. Don’t worry, baby.”

 

Lily nodded her head and took a deep breath. She did her best to relax, but the mix of excitement and nerves made her stomach do somersaults.

 

“I love you.” He said with a reassuring smile.

 

“I love you too.”

 

Sweet Pea took one of her hands in his and pinned it to the bed next to her head, lacing his fingers between hers. He lined himself at her entrance and looked into her wild green eyes, shining with anticipation. “Ready?”

 

Lily took a deep breath and nodded her head. Sweet Pea looked her in the eyes as he ran the tip against her wetness before gently pushing into her entrance. Lily’s eyes fell closed and she let out a gasp, squeezing his hand. The feeling of her walls wrapped tightly around him made Sweet Pea groan softly into her hair. He whispered in her ear. “Are you okay?” Lily nodded. He slowly pushed the rest of the way inside of her warmth until she fully enveloped him. She moaned at the feeling of his fullness inside of her. Sweet Pea placed gentle kisses along her neck, giving her a second to adjust to his size before he began to gently pull out and then back into her core. His movements built up a steady, tender rhythm. It was like nothing else Lily had ever felt, physically or emotionally. Their tongues tangled and fought for dominance as Sweet Pea’s hips rocked back and forth, Lily began meeting his thrusts with her hips. She needed to feel him, every inch of him all at once. Sweet Pea increased his pace as Lily’s moans and whimpers became louder and more frequent, her sounds alone were almost enough to send him over the edge. He buried his face to the space between her shoulder and her neck, her fingers dug into his strong shoulders. Their breathy moans filled the air as they both climbed higher and higher. She felt one of his hands reach between their sweat covered bodies, his fingers rolling her most sensitive spot between his fingers. She loudly moaned his name as the pleasure spread throughout her body from head to toe.

 

“Oh _fuck,_ Lily.” He could feel her walls tighten around him as he continued to thrust in and out of her warmth, pushing him closer. A pink blush spread over her pale skin, her beautiful lips parted in pleasure. The base of his cock began to twitch. Lily dug her nails into his shoulder as she moaned out in pleasure. Her legs wrapped tightly around his hips “ _Oh, god. Sweet Pea, don’t stop._ ” Her eyes fell as she came close to reaching her peak.

 

“Look at me, Lily.”

 

She looked into her love’s eyes as the pleasure took her under, leaving them both a panting, moaning mess as they got lost in one another.

 

Sweet Pea rolled them over so she lay on top of him, her head rested against his chest as it rose and fell as his breath evened out. Trails of tingles were left behind as his calloused hands traced along the shape of her spine. They silently held their embrace for awhile, neither of them ready to pull themselves out of the dream-like state.

 

“We didn’t even eat the cake.”

 

Lily giggled against his chest and looked up at him lazily. “It’ll still be there in the morning.” She bit her lip playfully and lifted herself up to look him in the eye. The toothy grin she adored so much appeared with the simple cock of an eyebrow before she leant down to capture his lips once again.

 

 

**

 

 

Two Bulldogs shuffled around in the dark.

 

“Andrews, what if we get caught?”

 

“We won’t, the whole town goes to sleep by 8:00 at night. Besides, who would actually believe we did this?” Archie scoffed and went back to pouring the last bit of liquid just outside the building. He tossed the canister to the side once it was empty.

 

“I don’t know, man. This just seems a little extreme, my parents come here.”

 

“ _Look_ , do you want to get those Southside rats taken care of or not?”

 

“I do, but-“

 

“Then shut up and hand me the lighter.”

 

“Alright, Andrews. Jeez, don’t blow a gasket.” Reggie paused for a beat before reluctantly handing over the lighter to his friend…

 

 

 


End file.
